


The Return

by Redhazard



Category: Kakumeiki Valvrave | Valvrave the Liberator
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-21 13:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 90,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4831385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redhazard/pseuds/Redhazard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Series. The world falls into chaos. A country struggles to form. The Magius seek ways to remain in control. Meanwhile, Tokishima Soichi couldn't be happier. They really shouldn't have left the mad scientist alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Valvrave.

 

* * *

 

 

 

As a rule, Shoko rarely allowed herself to feel negative emotions. There was nothing fun about being sad or angry.

People had different ways to cope with negative emotions. Shoko? Shoko did stuff. Shoko was an energizer bunny of helpfulness and bad t-shirts.

Being Prime Minister helped. It meant there was always something else to do. Meetings with ARUS' representatives. Meeting with her cabinet. Strategy sessions with L-Elf. Public appearances.

To say nothing of all the lovely documents that absolutely  _needed_  her signature.

Shoko was grateful for it all. It took her mind off things. Things she did not want to think about. Like the war, the death of many friends.

Her father.

Yes, Shoko was grateful for her many duties. They gave her a safe and reliable way to handle her emotions.

A way which was not working at all right now.

Shoko was angry. She was sad.

And guilty. Incredibly guilty.

More than anything else, she wanted to see Haruto again, beg for forgiveness, and screw what everyone else thought.

The young girl took a deep breath and looked at all the students around her. She couldn't do that. Not yet. They still needed her, still looked up to her.

For a moment, she hated them.

In a moment of weakness, she had betrayed Haruto. When everyone was riddled with fear, she had let their doubts cloud her judgment and branded her best friend as a monster. She had cast out the people who saved her life to carter to the whims of scared children.

Oh, Akira! Poor Akira. She probably hated her now.

Were it not for them, maybe it wouldn't have ended this way. Maybe if she did not need to protect them. Maybe if she did not have to take care of them and play along with their stupid fears.

She knew those were lies. It had been her choice, and it had been the wrong one. She could shout and scream at Iori all she wanted, but it would not change the truth. She had been weak.

She had betrayed her friends.

Blaming the others would not solve anything.

No matter how horribly tempting it was.

"Prime Minister! Prime Minster!" cried out one of the students the moment he entered their improvised sick bay.

The interruption was a welcome one. Shoko had no desire to be alone with her thoughts.

"What is it?" She asked. The student had been one of her classmates. On better circumstances, Shoko would even be able to remember his full name, but that was not the case. She was too tired to care.

"Communications," he said. "It is L-Elf."

The name sent a ripple through the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. They had all seen the broadcast. They had all seen the attack against Chancellor Amadeus.

They had all seen he was one of  _them_.

Magius.

The name had popped on the net almost immediately and Shoko suspected Akira had played a large role in that.

It was only natural for students to be curious after the way the broadcast had been cut off. Shoko would be lying if she said she had no interest in it. However, something held greater value in her mind.

News of L-Elf was news of Haruto.

Without even excusing herself, the girl walked past the messenger and made her way to the main bridge. Upon entering and looking at L-Elf's face on the screen, she immediately realized something was wrong. It wasn't the fact he still wore his Dorssian uniform, blood and all, nor was it the fact that Satomi and Kibukawa-sensei stood at each side of him.

It was his expression.

People said many things about L-Elf, not all of them kind. She had often heard many students call him emotionless.

The people who said that were wrong, of course. L-Elf was one of the most expressive people she knew.

People always stared at her when she said that, but it was true. L-Elf had emotions and rarely bothered to hide them. It was just matter of really looking at him. The twitch of his eyebrows. The tightness of his jaw.

L-Elf had tons of expressions and she felt confident in saying she had seen most of them. She had seen happy L-Elf, smug L-Elf, annoyed L-Elf, and even depressed L-Elf when he came back after the mission on Earth.

She had never seen him angry before.

Until now.

"Sashinami Shoko," he said, acknowledging her presence. She fought the urge to shiver. That voice was cold, too cold.

She should not be surprised. She deserved it.

"Three hours ago the operation to take Module 77 began," he said without waiting for any input on their side. He already knew what they wanted to know.

"The Valvraves engaged the combined ARUS/Dorssian forces to draw their attention. One hour later, Chancellor Amadeus was exposed to the world as a Magius. The enemy fell into disarray as planned, and Module 77 was successfully conquered."

For a moment everyone stared at him, unable or unwilling to understand what he had said. Their home. Module 77. Could it be?

It was back.

"We can go home again!"

The shout from a single student brought forth a wave of cheers all over the room. Under other circumstances, Shoko would have joined, but now she only had eyes for L-Elf.

"You can all return to Module 77," L-Elf said, his voice mercilessly cutting through the euphoria. "Provided you all swear loyalty to our new country."

What?

Confusion reigned over the room for an instant before protests and cries for explanations exploded.

"New JIOR is gone," L-Elf said. "The moment Module 77 was taken, the country ceased to exist. Most of its population is dead. You have no territory. You possess no military or political power. Right now, you're but country-less kids drifting through space."

"But, you took the Module back, didn't you?" Iori asked.

"Module 77 was not taken back by New JIOR," L-Elf said to the confusion of many. "Module 77 was taken by an independent force with the goal of obtaining territory for the creation of a new country. If you wish to enter Module 77 you have no choice but to swear loyalty to our country."

"Where is Haruto?" Shoko found herself asking, her voice rising above the protests of many.

Haruto would never do this. Even after all that had happened, he would never retaliate in this way. He would never take their country away. Not their school.

Not their home.

L-Elf's expression switched from controlled anger to barely retrained fury. Shoko flinched.

"Tokishima Haruto," He said, and his voice was wrong, because people should not sound like that. People should not carry so much pain and rage.

"Tokishima Haruto," L-Elf repeated, this time with greater control, "is dead."

What?

She blinked.

She had heard wrong. She must have. There was no way. He was immortal. She had seen it. Even a bullet to the heart could not kill him.

Haruto could not die.

He was… he was always there.

She sought out Satomi and Kibukawa-sensei, waiting for the moment when one of them would scold L-Elf for saying such a horrible thing. Satomi refused to meet her gaze. Kibukawa-sensei had no such problems.

"I am afraid it is true," he said. "Valvrave pilots Yamada Raizo and Tokishima Haruto fell in the line of duty."

What?

"I am sorry," he said.

Shoko broke.

She did not care about all the students surrounding her. She did not care about L-Elf and his demands. She did not care about their country. She did not care about being Prime Minister.

Her best friend, the man she loved, had died and the last thing she had done was call him a monster.

She fell to her knees and cried.

xXx

Tokishima Soichi was an odd man.

The man was, without a doubt, brilliant. Ask anyone who ever met him. From co-workers to university teachers, all would say the same thing. Tokishima Soichi was a genius. To call him anything less would be an insult. The impossible did not exist for him. The man was a visionary of the highest caliber.

Only… well, he was just a little odd, wasn't he?

Really odd.

It was the jokes. The way he so easily brought up human experimentation. They were jokes, obviously. They had to be.

Right?

Morality was nothing more than a cute suggestion in Tokishima Soichi's book. When JIOR had asked him to lead the Valvrave project he had leaped at the chance. The possibilities were mind-boggling. Best of all, he did not have to worry about silly little things like international law.

It was terribly antiquated. How was science supposed to advance when the laws were so out of date?

The Valvrave project was a dream come true.

Except for the part where they wanted him to build weapons. Weapons! How short sighted could they be? What type of protozoa was he dealing with here?

The Valvrave project could be, would be so much more than a mere weapons project. He was not making weapons. He was engineering the next step in human evolution.

He was building Gods.

His son was his greatest achievement in that regard. His DNA was just wonderful. He was the perfect candidate to become a Homo sapiens novus. He was an entity that would stand above the rest of the world. It was his destiny.

Thus it came as no surprise to him to find out he was the pilot of Unit-1, and every successive victory the Valvraves had over Dorssia only reinforced the superiority of his creation.

His creations were the future.

Then he had been reunited with his son and things had gone south. The boy wanted to deny his destiny. He wanted to destroy the project!

Teenage rebellion. They had warned him about it.

At the end, he had been left behind; not that he had any intention of going back to JIOR. At least in Dorssia he could experiment as much as he wanted to.

Until they had thrown him into a cell, that is. As it turned out, being the only member left behind after a big rescue looked more than a little suspicious.

So Tokishima Soichi spend his days in a cell.

Until one day they took him out and threw him in a van. It was an odd ride. His rescuers were Dorssian. That was all he knew for sure. They had not bothered to even answer one of his questions.

Plus they put a blindfold on him! That was just rude. He estimated the ride had lasted at least four hours, which was sadly not really an indicator of distance.

Shadowy secret-keeping types were so annoying to deal with.

When the ride ended they led him out of the van. He could tell they were inside a building now. Blindfolded he might be, but he could still tell the difference between outside air and inside air.

After leading him through many different doors, one of his rescuers roughly pushed him into a chair. The other took off his blindfold.

"My, you people really know how to treat an old man," Soichi said.

They ignored him and walked out of the room. Soichi took a moment to look at his new abode. The room was dark, especially with the door closed. He could barely see beyond arm's reach. However, he got the feeling this place was actually quite large.

"Dr. Tokishima Soichi," a voice spoke. Soichi easily recognized it came from a speaker. He was alone in the room then?

"That would be my name, yes," he replied.

"You were the head researcher of the Valvrave Project," the voice said, almost as an accusation. Was the same voice or maybe a new one altered to sound the same? Technology could do wonders with voices.

"You have done your homework on me, I see. I must admit you have me at a disadvantage," Soichi said. They knew who he was and what he had done. They had not killed him yet, which meant they had an interest in him.

"We are the Magius. That is all you need to know about us," the voice said.

Soichi nodded. A group then?

"Very well then, why have such esteemed people brought me here?" He asked with a smile.

"We have a proposition for you," the voice said.

Soichi was silent as he listened. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. By the time the explanation was finished his grin threatened to split his face in two.

"Oh, I do believe we are going to get along just fine," he said.

Ah, how good it felt to have a job again.

xXx

"And over here we have your lovely lab. Please note all the security guards around. Any funny business and you will be shot," the youth who had introduced himself as his bodyguard said as he continued the tour of the facilities.

"And here I thought they wanted me alive," Soichi said.

"Oh, they do," the youth said. Soichi supposed he was a few years older than his son. "They will probably just maim you a little. Nothing vital. That's Magius hospitality for you."

Green eyes shone with mischief as he said this and Soichi was smart enough to read between the lines.

"So how did you land this wonderful job?" Soichi asked while checking the lab's equipment.

"Oh, the usual, I knew a little too much," the youth said, earning a glare from one of the guards at the door. "Hey, just making conversation. The doctor is the only talking company I have had in weeks."

"Not the talking type, are they?" Soichi asked, looking at the guards.

"They are different from you and me. Raised from childhood to serve the Magius and all." There was something about the way he said it, an odd note different from his easygoing cheer. Soichi made a mental note of it.

"Then why bother keeping you around?" he asked, uncaring of how that sounded. "If they already have soldiers, I doubt one more would make a difference."

The youth smiled.

"Well, I am really good at what I do," the youth bragged. "And the Magius aren't the type to waste perfectly a good body. I figure at least one of them is planning to have a go at me. Can't blame them. It's the curse of being handsome."

"Jacking," the doctor said. "Yes, I am familiar with the skill."

"Creepiest thing," the teenager said, nodding. "Despite all their powers their bodies age the same as everyone else's. They need to have these big ceremonies every so often to switch bodies."

Soichi hid a smile as he turned to one of the monitors. The Magius had told him much about what had transpired while he had been locked up, but he knew they had not told him everything and this latest piece of information proved it.

His creations were better.

Homo sapiens novus were eternally young and could easily take over other people without the need for preparation.

To think his creation had surpassed the real thing! Amusing, but not surprising. It was the way of science after all. The Magius thought outdated beings such as them still held any relevance and for now he would let them think that.

The equipment they provided him more than covered his needs and their plans lined up with his well enough.

The fools wanted weapons. Weapons superior to the Valvraves. So powerful, yet just as short-sighted as JIOR. Pity.

He could do so much more than mere weapons.

The world would be shaken once more. He guaranteed it.

He just needed one more piece to begin, and luckily he knew just where to get it.

"Tell me something," he said, raising his voice up.

"How would you like to go out on a little errand for me, H-Neun?"

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 **AN:** I have always wanted to do the last word name reveal at least once. 

If you enjoyed (or didn't enjoy as the case might be) this chapter, don't be afraid to leave a comment. Feedback always helps.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimed: Valvrave is not owned by me.

* * *

 

 

In the end there wasn't much of a choice to make.

Sure, they had told each student they could choose. They had the right to decide whether they wanted to pledge loyalty to the new country or not. Everyone was free to decline L-Elf's offer.

If they wanted to die, that is.

Their ship held many wounded and their medical supplies would not last long. Some of the students needed real medical facilities. Not necessarily a doctor, but a few packets of blood for transfusions at least. They could not remain on the ship, and they had nowhere else to go.

Regardless of the broadcast, many people were still bound to believe they were monsters.

There was no guarantee they wouldn't be attacked if they tried asking help from other countries.

Their choice was made from the beginning. Everyone had accepted L-Elf's terms. Just as he knew they would. In one move he had removed what was left of the old government and secured power over the Module. It had a been cold and utterly ruthless move.

Just like L-Elf.

No, just like L-Elf when there was not someone around to soften his harsher tendencies.

Like Haruto.

Shoko shook her head. No, there was no time. She had cried enough. She had to look for L-Elf. She had to find him.

She needed to know where he had put the body.

Shoko shivered. She couldn't even stand the thought. Body. Thinking of Haruto like that was …  _wrong_. It was wrong in ways she could not even begin to explain, and if she tried she had a feeling she would end up crying again.

So Shoko put on a brave face, took a step forward…. and immediately ran into a familiar face.

"Akira-chan?" The words left her mouth before she could stop herself.

Of course she would run into her. Currently all the students were in the lower levels of the Module. If Shoko's hunch was right, they were right beneath Sakimori Academy. Regardless of how much she wanted to see her home again, it was better this way.

Blood did not come off so easily.

With all the students in a relatively small area, running into Akira made… sense?

Shoko blinked. Her brain started working.

Akira. Outside. Akira walking outside. No bags. No box. No blushing. Just Akira. Outside. Like a normal person.

Shoko felt a burst of pride and for a moment she wanted to hug the other girl. She did not. Could not. She was at loss of how to act around the girl after everything that had happened.

After everything she had done.

Akira had no such problems.

"Sashinami-san," she said. "Do you mind?"

Eh?

Sashinami…san?

"You're blocking the way," the redhead repeated with such coldness, Shoko found herself doing what she asked.

Not bothering to say anything else, Akira made her way past Shoko. She did not look back even once. She did not glare or shout at her.

She had barely acknowledged her. As if she was a stranger now.

Shoko stared at Akira's retreating back. If she followed Akira, she could probably find L-Elf. Yes, she just needed to walk behind Akira or maybe even alongside her. She raised her arm to call out to her, but…

But.

The distance was way too big.

xXx

In President Anderson's experience, good things rarely came alone.

For that reason, the differences between good situations and bad ones were less than people may think. A life of politics had taught him that. When good happened, you always needed to be prepared for the bad. When bad things happened, you needed to be ready to take advantage of the opportunity.

It was basic politics.

"Mister President, over here please," one of his aides said while leading him to the improvised stage they had built on the ship. The president had to admit they had done a good job. The podium looked elegant enough and the flag behind it was the appropriate size for the event.

The cameras were ready and waiting to transmit his words to every citizen in ARUS.

His ship had not reached Earth yet, but this was a necessity.

The kids from Module 77 had changed the game. For the first time, the Magius were exposed.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't happy about it. On the surface the Council of 101 was an organization of Magius and influential, powerful humans who led the world. That description could not be further from the truth.

The Council of 101 was made by Magius for Magius. People considered him one of the most powerful men in the world, but at the end of the day he was but a slave to the Magius.

It galled him. It infuriated him. It terrified him.

Magius were monsters. They watched from the shadows. They had eyes and ears everywhere. You could never be sure if the person you were talking to was actually one of them.

He could not fight them. They were too well hidden for that.

Until now.

The kids had shone the spotlight on them. Unfortunately, that light was too close to him as well. If his dealings with the Magius became known, he would be in danger. That was why he could not afford to miss an opportunity like this.

With heavy steps he made his way to the podium.

"Are you ready, Mister President?" his aide asked. President Jeffrey Anderson nodded.

"Alright, you're live in five, four, three, two, one..."

"Citizens of ARUS," he said. His voice was clear; his expression, resolute. There was no turning back now.

"You have no doubt seen many things in the past hours. You have heard rumors. You have discovered many things that changed our basic understanding of the world around us. You are confused. You have a hard time telling myth from truth," he said. "I come here to you today to dispel all doubts."

He took a deep breath. This was it.

"The Magius are real."

Even in the confines of the room, he could feel the tension triple.

"I saw with my own eyes as Chancellor Amadeus was mortally wounded," He went on. "I saw how he healed in a way no human ever could. What I have witnessed can be interpreted in no other way. Chancellor Amadeus was not human!"

He paused for a moment. He needed to let the gravity of that statement sink in.

"I know not what went through his mind when he revealed his fellow non-humans," he went on. It would not do for the people to forget about Module 77 or their non-human status. "I cannot understand his reasons or motives."

"I only know he betrayed us all!" He said, adding just the right amount of righteous indignation in his voice. "For a moment, I dared to hope our two nations would achieve peace. I do not hate Dorssia and I held nothing but respect for Chancellor Amadeus. I thought he was a man of great qualities and believed that had circumstances been kinder I would have been proud to call him my friend."

He cast his gaze down for an instant. He needed them to feel it. The indignation. The anger. The promise of peace followed by betrayal.

After that, it was just a matter of directing it toward a proper target.

"Amadeus lied to us. His offer of peace was nothing but deceit and manipulation for his own ends. The Class 7 Dangerous Lifeforms… the Magius have done nothing but manipulate us all! Citizens of ARUS, hear me! We must band together. We must root them out and expose them. Together we can end their reign!"

"But," the President said, his voice softer now. "I understand some of you may doubt me. I am aware of some of the rumors floating around. But know this, I am human and I intend to prove it right now."

He reached out his hand to his aide. Even though they had planned this, the man was still nervous as he put a knife on the president's hand.

President Anderson did not hesitate. In one swift move, he stabbed his own hand. White hot pain lit up every nerve in his hand. His teeth sank into the inside of his cheek. He could not afford to break down here. Not one cry of pain. Not one single tear.

"Look," he shouted, presenting his wound after taking out the knife. "My blood is as red as yours. My wounds heal just as slowly and they hurt just as much. But this pain is nothing if it allows me to regain your trust! Join me, citizens! Let us work together and humanity will prevail!"

With that final message, the broadcast ended. Tremendous applause exploded all over the room even as the ship's doctor started to treat his wound.

"That was fantastic, Mister President," his aide said.

The President smiled.

"It is good to know I still have it in me," he said, before handling the knife back to his aide. "Now it is your turn."

His aide looked at the knife.

"Sir?"

"Cut yourself," the president ordered, voice cold. "And once we are certain you are human, we will go through the rest of the crew."

He had learned from Amadeus' failure. No Magius was going to sneak on him.

This was an opportunity and he was not going to let anything ruin it.

xXx

As a rule, Saki did not trust adults.

Abusive parents had put a big dent in her ability to trust others and show business had taken care of the rest. People were self-centered and self-serving. They will be nice to you while they can get something out of it, and then throw you away like a used cloth. That was the absolute truth.

Rukino Saki was a very cynical young girl.

Even so, she had not quite expected this level of shamelessness from ARUS's president.

"He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?" She said to no one in particular.

They were in a small conference room. Previously it had been used by scientists of the Valvrave project. Now, the closest thing they had to a government was gathered here.

L-Elf, as their de facto leader, was at the head of the table. Satomi and Kibukawa-sensei each had seats, and it went without saying she and Akira were there. After all they were…

Saki's hand clenched into a fist.

…the only remaining Valvrave pilots.

"It was a necessary move on his part," L-Elf said, saving Saki from getting lost in her thoughts.

On L-Elf's orders, Akira had leaked a list of potential members of the Council of 101 into the internet. Thanks to her hacking skills, the list had already found its way to every major social network and news site.

The list had included the President's name.

"True," Kibukawa-sense said. "The way things are, he needed to regain the trust of the people even by a little. As things are now, they would crucify him if his dealings with the Magius to come to light."

And not necessarily in a metaphorical way.

"And while at it, he stirs up the Anti-Magius Sentiment even more," Saki added. She understood that much. He had put a nice little target on all things non-human. "He might as well have told them to riot."

The world was shameless.

Satomi slammed his hands on the table. "Should we really be talking so calmly about this? Shouldn't we do something about it? After all, we were the ones who exposed the Magius to the world!"

Uncomfortable looks appeared all around the table. It had been the only way to grasp victory against the combined might of Dorssia and ARUS. They had exposed the truth of the world.

In doing so, they may have started a world-wide witch hunt.

"Who knows how many riots are happening right now," Satomi said, looking down while running a hand through his hair.

"Twenty-seven," Akira said, not looking up from her computer's screen. Her fingers typed away with lightning speed. "There have been twenty-seven major riots worldwide. Smaller riots number over a hundred. That's without counting Dorssia, which is entering a civil war."

The Royalists did not waste time.

"Speaking of Dorssia," Saki said, cutting off whatever Satomi was about say. "What is he doing here?"

The others followed her pointed finger to the final occupant in the room. Said occupant stared back at them, unflinching.

"My goal is to liberate Dorssia." A-Drei did not say more. It was clear he believed that was enough of an explanation.

Saki raised an eyebrow. Clad in his Dorssian uniform, A-Drei could not have looked more out of place. While Saki bore no grudge against him, she had to admit the way he could pretend there was nothing wrong with him standing there in spite of the many times he had attacked them was almost admirable.

Almost.

"Shouldn't you have stuck with the Royalists then?" Saki asked the obvious question first.

"Our goals do not necessarily coincide," A-Drei replied. "Staying here provides me with greater odds of success."

A self-serving goal. As good as excuse as any, but Saki knew better. The quick and furtive way his gaze darted towards L-Elf every now and then was not something she had missed. She allowed a small smirk to grace her features and gave him a knowing look.

A-Drei refused to acknowledge the look, though his cheeks gained a reddish tint the next time he laid eyes on L-Elf.

Saki fought the urge to chuckle. Obvious. He was way too obvious.

"A-Drei will serve as our liaison to the Royalists," L-Elf said, settling the matter once and for all. "Our alliance with them has benefited us in the past and it shall continue to do so."

The official reason. Not that anyone in the room had any intention of throwing A-Drei out of the Module. As they were, all extra hands were welcomed.

"Wait!" Satomi finally had enough of being ignored. "Aren't we moving away from the main point? What should we do about the mass panic?"

"Renbokoji Satomi," L-Elf said, before anyone else could answer. "What do you think we should do?"

"Eh?" The teenager looked at a loss, not having expected to be put on the spot. "Well… I… the Valvraves-"

"Kibukawa," L-Elf said. "Enlighten us as to the status of the five Valvraves."

The older man sighed.

"We have successfully recovered what was left of Unit III and V, which is not much. They are little more than junk parts at this point. The engines are usable, but we'll have to build the rest from scratch. Unit IV is in dire need of repairs. Only Unit I and Unit VI are combat capable right now and Unit I…"

He did not finish.

He did not have to.

There was no pilot for Unit I.

Satomi leaned back on his chair, the fight taken out of him by the reality of their situation. They barely had any military power. If any country chose to attack them right now, they wouldn't make it.

"I have taken some steps to remedy this situation," L-Elf said. "The Royalists have agreed to give us 10 Kirschbaums. They should be delivered in the coming weeks. A-Drei, you will be in charge of coordinating the delivery."

Everyone stared.

"How…? When?" Saki took a deep breath. "You know what? I don't want to know."

"We'll need pilots," Kibukawa said.

"I don't think we'll have trouble finding volunteers," L-Elf said, and there was something in his smile that made Saki want to punch him. Of course, there would be volunteers. There was not a single person in the Module who had not lost someone.

Angry teenagers with revenge in mind. Easy to exploit and manipulate.

"In any case, the selection process can wait for now," L-Elf said.

"And what about the selection for Unit I's pilot."

Let it never be said Kibukawa shied away from uncomfortable subjects.

"The matter can be discussed at a later date," L-Elf said and his voice made it clear it was not a suggestion.

Kibukawa would not be deterred.

"It can't. The Valvraves need Runes. Unit 1 and its pilot are the main providers. While the reduced number of units is bound to make the upkeep cost less, Runes are still a finite resource. If no new pilot is chosen, our main military assets will become useless."

It was the truth and Saki hated it.

Seeking a replacement pilot was the logical thing. Of course it was. However, Saki was certain she would never be able to accept someone else sitting in the cockpit.

The thought of anyone trying to take Haruto's place galled her. Who did they think they were? How dare they treat him like a replaceable part?

She knew Kibukawa meant well but she had never been angrier at him.

A feeling L-Elf shared.

"The matter will be discussed at a later date," he repeated. If looks could kill, Kibukawa would already be 6 feet under, provided L-Elf didn't decide to burn the body and throw it into space first.

Kibukawa sighed, but nodded. It was obvious he was going to make no headway in this matter today.

"Renbokoji Satomi," L-Elf said, moving on to the next item on the agenda. "How are the students?"

Satomi was a bit startled at being addressed directly, but managed to recover. "Eh, yes. We have some wounded, but they are all stable. Kibukawa-sensei already treated the worst of the lot. Takahi and Otamaya have the rest under control."

Well, more like Takahi had things under control and Otamaya was doing whatever she told him to do. The purple-headed otaku was more at home with machines than with people.

"Good, we have enough places for them to sleep, but we'll need to move them to the dorms eventually. Arrange for a clean-up crew as soon as possible."

Satomi paled a bit. Clean up crew. A nice way of saying he had to find people willing to clean up all the dead bodies in the school.

"Y-yes."

"I'll help," Saki said, raising her hand.

"Me too," added Akira.

Satomi shot a thankful look to the two, but made a mental note to try to get Akira to change her mind while they were alone.

His sister should not be around corpses.

"Renbokoji Akira," L-Elf said, moving to the next item. "Have you found the accounts I asked for?"

The girl nodded. "Most of them have been taken by ARUS' corporations. Their security is good, but I should be able to take care of it with Unit VI's system."

Bank accounts. JIOR had lost more than territory during Dorssia's takeover. Many people had lost their lives. Some of them poor and some of them quite rich.

This had resulted in quite a few bank accounts and other financial assets without a legitimate owner. ARUS had not been slow to act. Many of JIOR's financial assets had been taken over by ARUS under the pretense of safe-keeping. While they had depended on ARUS' aid, this had been a tolerable situation.

With the world in chaos, they could afford to take some liberties.

"Only take 10% of the biggest ones," L-Elf said, shaking his head. "Emptying the accounts would be too noticeable. Siphon the money over the next two weeks. We cannot afford to let our funds run low right now."

Satomi raised a hand. "Is this really okay? I mean, this is theft no matter how you look at it."

"So I'm a thief?"

Confronted with his sister's frowning face, Satomi panicked. "Ah, n-no. Onii-chan didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

The girl turned her head away, but it was obvious her heart wasn't in it. At least to Saki. Satomi was two steps from prostrating before his sister. A-Drei scoffed and turned to the side.

This had been the group of people that repelled all their attacks?

In true A-Drei fashion, he decided to take it as a testament to L-Elf's great skills rather than any flaw on his part.

"If you are quite done," L-Elf said, ending the Sibling Comedy Theater. "JIOR's assets were stolen away by Dorssia and ARUS. We're merely recovering them."

"So we're JIOR now?" Saki teased. L-Elf's explanation might hold water if they were the old JIOR, but they had declared themselves as an entirely new nation.

"The name could prove useful in the future," L-Elf said, allowing himself a satisfied smile. "I see no reason to discard it yet."

L-Elf checked his watch.

"That will be all for today," he said. "I expect all of you at 6:00 am tomorrow."

Inwardly, Saki groaned.

She had little problems with letting L-Elf run the country, but why did he have to make all the meetings so damn early?

xXx

H-Neun did not like Magius.

There were a number of reasons for this, most prominent among them being the stupid device they had planted on his back.

Cain had knocked him out that night. With embarrassing ease even. He hated that man.

He had woken up in a dark room with a bruised ego and one hell of an aching back. That thing was already there. The device had burrowed into his flesh, making it impossible to take out.

A voice had explained how things were going to work from that point on. It had said many things. Many of which he did not quite understand.

What the hell were Runes anyway?

Understanding had come later. They locked him in a cell and gave him the bare minimum to live. He had not taken the food. Who knew what drugs they had put there?

After two days he could barely walk.

It did not make sense. His body should not be this weak! He was trained in the harshest conditions. He had gone for more than a week without food in the middle of hostile territory. Two days in a cell were nothing. They shouldn't have been, yet his body ached worse than the time Cain had chosen him as a sparring partner.

They had explained. The thing on his back drained his body's Runes or whatever. They had put him in a machine after that.

It had been his first Rune Injection. It was like the oxygen he never noticed he needed until he lost it. He had been refreshed, reenergized.

Alive.

They had let him wander out of the cell after that, and H-Neun understood why.

He couldn't run away. Whatever the device on his back was, it was draining his body of something. Trying to run away was a death sentence. He had timed it, decided to see how long he could last.

Three days was the limit.

He could remain functional for one day without Runes. By the second day, he had trouble walking. By the third, he might as well be a corpse.

H-Neun was trapped.

Then there were those soldiers of theirs walking around the base. It would not be so bad if they all didn't have even less of a personality than L-Elf. He was going to die of boredom at this rate, surrounded by stone faced, all work no fun soldiers.

H-Neun was starting to see just what Cain had in mind when he made all those modifications to the Karlstein Institute.

Damn Magius.

Worse, there was not a single female around. Not that the Dorssian military was swimming in females, but at least it had Kriemhild.

As far as H-Neun was concerned that was all the woman anyone needed.

But he had none of that here. He was trapped, bound, and turned into a servant. H-Neun had many reasons to dislike the Magius.

He would say one good thing of them though.

Cloaking tech? Awesome.

They could have definitely used that technology during the war. He could already see the possibilities. Slap it on a battleship and watch your enemy go boom.

Or, equip it on a humble Splicer and sneak into the enemy stronghold.

Kind of like he was doing now.

He would have preferred an IDEAL or even a Waffe. Splicers were just so… ARUS (ugh), but that was the point. It was hardly the first time H-Neun used equipment associated with another country for a stealth operation.

And really, if he stayed any longer at that base he was going to go crazy. He really had to thank Dr. Tokishima for this little "road trip."

When the doctor told him what he needed to do, H-Neun had thought he was joking. He had to be. There was no way he was going to convince the Magius to let him out.

A few hours later, he was in the cockpit of a Splicer after receiving a Rune Injection. Supposedly, this one would last longer than usual.

Now if only the damn trip could be over already. How many hours had it been now?

He was starting to appreciate Q-Vier's habit of always carrying a handheld console with him. Why couldn't his target have been on Earth? At least that way he could have something to look at. As it was, the darkness of space was his only company.

God, he missed his squad.

Even the annoying little psychopath.

Had they cried for him?

Had Kriemhild cried for him?

Probably not.

H-Neun shook his head. No way. He was not about to get sentimental. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Once he escaped, that is.

A proximity alarm made him look at his controls. His face lit up with a grin.

There it was.

"Isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" H-Neun said to himself.

Module 77 was in sight.

.

.

.

xXx

AN: Another chapter uploaded. It's fun seeing what you wrote a long time ago and see what worked and what didn't. 

Next time: The remaining Karlstein boys are all in one Module. It's time for a class reunion!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Valvrave.

* * *

 

H-Neun sighed while running a hand through his hair. Getting inside the Module had been the easy part. The stealth system installed by the Magius was one technological wonder. With it a humble Splicer had been turned into a weapon invisible to sight and radar.

Which, combined with his not-insignificant infiltration skills, made getting inside the Module pathetically easy.

After leaving the still-invisible Splicer in a safe place, H-Neun had made his way into the city.

The place was a ghost town.

It was not the first deserted city H-Neun had been in.

It was not even the first deserted city he had a hand in making. Still, he was almost glad when his search took him to the lower levels, away from the abandoned streets and houses.

Now, if he could only find what he was looking for.

He knew L-Elf. He was proud to say he was among the few people who actually understood how that brilliant head worked. H-Neun had gone through all the usual places where his silver-haired ex-teammate could have hidden it.

During his search, he had found a set of clothes to blend in better and even a handheld video game (he was not going through hours of boredom again during the return trip).

Yet there was not a single hint of what he was after.

And that was wrong.

Because L-Elf did not do that. Practical and utilitarian to his dying breath, that was L-Elf. A much-needed counterbalance to X-Ein's love for aesthetics, A-Drei's traditional tendencies and Q-Vier's… enthusiasm.

He had gone through the usual spots, the practical spots where L-Elf would keep the sample before moving it to a lab. He had come up with nothing. That was bad. It meant L-Elf was keeping the sample closer to his person than expected. Something he would not do unless it was extremely important or… unless he cared.

H-Neun smiled.

Had that grouch actually made a friend?

L-Elf never ran out of surprises, did he?

Still, this… required a slight change in strategy. Come to think of it, it might work out better than planned. H-Neun grinned as he took out a cell phone and dialed a number. He heard the phone ring four times before someone picked up.

"Helloo!" He called out in a voice that was entirely too cheerful to be real.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hissed a voice from the other side. "Do you realize what you could have done just now?!"

"Well, I was thinking a contact is meant to be used. Come on, lighten up," H-Neun said, smiling. "Lesson one of stealth ops: People have more important things to do than to look at you."

"This line is for emergencies only!" The same voice hissed.

H-Neun shrugged.

"I guess you don't want to get your hands on the samples then. Oh well, I'll be sure to report how helpful you have been."

H-Neun smiled as the other side went silent. All too easy. One, two, and…

"Hold it!" The voice growled out. "What do you want?"

"Oh, come on. There is no need for that tone of voice. I'm doing you a favor. You're gonna be a big hero when it is all said and done," H-Neun said, grinning. "You're gonna get that sample all by yourself."

H-Neun's smile could not be called anything other than predatory.

"Now, here's what you are going to do."

xXx

Her name was Ohta Nao.

If any of her classmates was asked to describe her, the word "beautiful" would no doubt be included somewhere and with good reason. It was not just her long hair, pure white skin, or curvy figure. Rather, each feature enhanced the other for an overall striking impression.

Ohta Nao was a beautiful girl.

It was a fact she acknowledged and accepted. She knew girls would flock to her and guys would want to be with her. No matter the age, beauty and popularity went hand in hand.

If only she could enjoy it.

Nao was… "bored" was not right word for it. Being bored implied there was nothing she wanted to do, which could not be further from the truth. Nao was desperate to do something. Even as her classmates flocked to her, she could not help but be jealous of them.

During lunch the girls would sometimes talk about their plans for the future. Some wanted to be wives, others idols or movie stars, while a few had more realistic career choices. Regardless, the fact was all of them at least had something they wanted to do.

They were passionate about something.

Nao envied them from the depths of her heart. Try as she might, she could not think of something she was passionate about. That was the gap between her and everyone else.

They lived. She just existed.

When Sashinami Shoko made the speech that won her the election for Prime Minister, Nao could not help but feel removed from the whole affair. Dreams? Hopes? Desires?

She had none.

Nao yearned for something to shoot for. High school would not last forever. Soon, she would be expected to join the adult world, yet she still did not know what her place was.

Ohta Nao was a lost girl.

Stumbling upon the cockpit of the Kagerou was the best thing that happened to her. Once the initial confusion and fear had worn off, she was happy. This was new. This was interesting. This was something she could do.

L-Elf had taken control after that and cut many of the delusions brewing in her head. In a completely unilateral decision, he had placed Jin and her under his command (and only under his command), a secret from everyone else.

Her secret.

It lasted only a few months, but she had never felt so alive. Each mission was frightening, but underneath it all there was excitement. For the first time, she was doing something with her life. At long last, her actions had meaning.

Then that fated broadcast happened. She remembered the shock. Seen someone heal from a wound like that was like something out of a movie. Had anyone else known about it? Had L-Elf?

ARUS struck, quickly and mercilessly. It could not be anything but premeditated.

They had lost so many during the attack. More students had died at the hands of ARUS' soldiers than in any of the Dorssian attacks.

Jin didn't make it.

Jin was… Jin was… Honestly, just what had been her relationship with him? At the beginning, he had been annoying. He was brash, rude, and too full of himself. That had been her first impression of her "partner."

When did that change?

When did she start looking forward to the time they spent together?

When did she start to trust him?

When did they become friends?

They were both stuck working under L-Elf. Jin was the only one she could confide in. No one else knew. There was no one else she could share what they did with.

L-Elf had a way of convincing people.

Jin became her closest friend and confidante. They were partners.

That too was gone now. She was alive and Jin was not. She was back to where she started. The Kagerou were gone. Her friend was gone. Her country was gone.

She had less than what she started with.

What was the point? What was she supposed to do? People admired her? What a joke that seemed now. All she had was a meaningless existence.

It was these dark thoughts that led her away from the rest of the students. She could not bear to be with them. She could not belong with them. She wandered aimlessly through the dark corridors of the underground labs, a fitting metaphor for her life.

"Ah, excuse me."

The voice snapped her to attention. It was a voice full of life and energy and its owner looked the part. A handsome face with a winning smile came into her view. Under other circumstances she would find him attractive. Now, she felt his good mood as a personal affront.

"Hi there," the young man said. "Sorry, I think I'm a little lost. It's almost embarrassing to ask this, but is there any chance you could point me to the nearest restroom."

"Just keep walking in that direction. You'll find it," Nao said, pointing to where she had come from. Truthfully, she had not paid much attention to where she was going, and did not know if the man would actually find anything there. She just did not want to spend time with others right now.

Especially not someone in such an obviously good mood like this… student?

"You are not a student?" Nao blurted out.

The youth blinked. "I'm pretty sure I am. Can't say we have talked before, but I have at least seen you around. Guess my looks don't make as much of an impression as I hoped."

"They do," Nao replied. "There were less than 500 students when this all began. Right now? The number is not even close to a hundred. I cannot say I know all of them by name, but I would have definitely remembered someone like you."

The person in front of her was too handsome not to be popular.

Beauty and popularity went hand in hand. Nao knew that lesson by heart.

For a moment, the man just smiled, yet there was something dangerous beneath it. The air became thick with tension, each side just waiting for the right time.

Nao chose to act first. The second year student bolted, hoping to warn the others of the intruder.

She did not get very far.

The intruder caught up to her with casual ease. A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. In an instant, Nao was pinned against the wall.

"Good show," H-Neun said. "I would feel somewhat guilty if you were not at least this good."

The many insults Nao thought up to reply were stopped cold when he put a gun to her head.

H-Neun smiled.

"I am not usually this bold, but how about a date?"

xXx

Renbokoji Akira's fingers typed away with lightning speed. Her opposition was one of the biggest private banks in ARUS. Their security systems were among the best money could buy. Only the military possessed better security.

This system represented a challenge even for skilled hackers. One wrong move would mean the end. The possibility of jail time was all too real when going up against this level of security.

Akira had made it all the way inside with bored ease.

It was unfair, really. Her hacking skills were considerable to begin with. The addition of Unit 6 had catapulted her to an entirely new level.

Hacking using Unit 6 was different from regular hacking. There were similarities, to be sure, much in the same way a square and a cube were similar, but one was just so much more.

It was the effect of Runes. Unit 6's system could interact with the very particles of information. Compared to that, state of the art security systems barely offered more protection than a paper bag. If this were a race, her opposition would be a bunch of babies that could barely crawl going up against her Formula One racing car.

It was that much of a difference.

She could rob the entire bank blind if she so wished. However, she understood what L-Elf meant. They were not in a situation where they could afford to draw too much attention. The chaos that had taken hold of the world allowed them some freedom of action, but if something that would draw the attention of the world back to them were to happen…

Module 77 would not survive such a confrontation. Not as it was right now.

So Akira went about her assigned work calmly and methodically. Even if her pride as a hacker was injured for using such an unfair item, she kept on going. This was what she could do for their country.

"You can take a break, you know?"

"Gah!"

Akira had been so focused on her work that she did not notice when Saki entered Unit 6's cockpit. The poor girl sputtered and fell off her seat.

Saki did not laugh, not because she did not want to, but rather because she had the necessary acting skills to keep a mask of politeness over her face.

"I thought you had a few weeks to take care of it," Saki said, offering her hand.

Akira stared at the offered limb for a moment before taking it.

"There is nothing wrong with getting a head start," she said, only after making sure she went over the sentence a couple of times in her head.

She was not the girl who could only speak in words and incomplete phrases anymore. She was not the girl who… Akira shook her head. There was no sense in thinking of  _her_  anymore.

Saki frowned.

"Even so, you will overwork yourself if you do too much. Kamitsuki or not, we get tired just the same as any human."

Akira frowned. She was never quite sure how to deal with Saki. It was not that she did not like Saki, but she could not help but feel slightly awkward around the idol. The reason was rather simple.

Saki was younger than her. By one full year.

So how come she got to act the part of the older sister?

If anyone should get the older sister role, it should obviously be her!

Sadly, Akira's little sister parameters were just too strong. No, it was more than that. Akira felt a tiny bit of resentment rising up in her as her eyes took in Saki's appearance, her curves to be precise.

If asked about the ages of the girls, any stranger would say Saki was the older one, without a doubt.

It wasn't like Akira was jealous Saki was more developed!

Really.

Breasts were useless anyway. Useless!

Regardless, Saki's concern was valid, and Akira appreciated her concern.

But Saki did not understand. She couldn't.

Unit 6 was the only Valvrave they could use right now. It was not just a matter of Unit 6 being the only unit capable of performing in combat. The current state of their country was not one that could afford military action.

But Unit 6 could hack. With Unit 6 she could steal resources, investigate, and manipulate the information in the web.

Unit 6 was the only offensive weapon they could afford to use.

She was the only attacker they had.

The responsibility was hers and she could not let anyone down. Not after everything. Not after Haruto… after Yamada…

Akira shook her head.

"Unit 6. Only offense…" Akira paused as her words became jumbled. She felt a flash of irritation at her speech patterns. "Unit 6 is our only weapon right now. I have to do my part."

A sad look crossed Saki's face.

"You don't have to force it," the girl said, and Akira understood she was talking about more than the hacking.

"I can handle it," Akira replied. Really. She could.

She was not a weak, little girl who couldn't show her face anymore. She wasn't… she wasn't the girl Shoko had found in a cardboard fortress.

Shoko.

Shoko who befriended her, who had breezed past all her defenses and inserted herself into her life. Before Akira had known it, she had started looking forward to her visits.

Shoko was nice. Shoko was not like the people who had bullied her.

Shoko was her friend.

With Shoko at her side, she could do it. She could try new things. She could go outside. She could be strong.

She could be strong for Shoko. She was the Valvrave pilot and Shoko was the Prime Minister. She could fight to protect Shoko.

Her friend.

Her friend had called her a monster.

Her friend had betrayed her. In the end, she was just like all the other people who bullied her. Had she planned it all from the start? Gained her trust and got her to open up only to cruelly break her?

Of course she hadn't. Akira knew that much, regardless of what the darkest parts of her mind dared to think.

It was not a premeditated evil.

It was just a regular betrayal.

So be it. Shoko betrayed her? Fine. If Shoko did not need her, then she did not need Shoko. Renbokoji Akira was not weak.

She was strong. She would be strong. For everyone. For the sake of a place where she could belong, a place where people would not betray her.

She was not a weak girl Shoko could play with any longer.

"Ah, so it is about Shoko-san," Saki said, and only then did Akira realize she had mumbled a few of the words.

Something dark flashed through Saki's eyes when she said Shoko's name and Akira fought the urge to flinch. In spite of her feelings for Shoko, for a moment, Akira was scared for her.

Then it was gone and on Saki's face there was only a picture perfect smile.

"So have you thought about who you are going to feed on?" Saki asked while leaning against the pilot's seat.

"Huh?" Akira could not be blamed. She had expected Saki to continue trying to convince her to take it easy.

Which was exactly why Saki had switched subjects. There was always more than one way to get others to do what you wanted.

"We are eventually going to need to feed on someone to keep going," Saki explained. It was true, while their bodies' demands for Runes would never be as high as Haruto's, the girls could not be expected to go without feeding forever.

In time, they would need to feed.

But…

It was just too embarrassing to talk about! Already, a blush had taken hold of Akira's cheeks.

"Of course!" Saki brought her hands together as if she had just realized something. "You can feed on your brother. He wouldn't mind. Lucky you."

"No!"

Akira's face went beet red. Sure, he had offered, but… doing that with him… No.

Just no.

Saki smiled.

"So you don't mind if I take a bite out of him then?" Saki teased her.

"Gah!"

Steam was coming out of her ears. If she left onii-chan alone with Saki… Akira shook her head.

Eaten.

Her brother would get eaten!

"D-d-denied! Fo-forbidden!" The girl spluttered.

Saki faked a pout. "Stingy. It is not like you are using him."

In her mind, Saki was congratulating herself on a job well done. Trying to force Akira to take it easy wouldn't have worked. Distracting her like this had yielded better results than she had hoped for.

Now she just had to keep it up until the girl forgot what she was supposed to do.

Something she would have succeeded with had the alarms not chosen that moment to ring throughout the place.

"Akira!"

"On it," the girl replied, back on her seat and already typing away. "Lower levels. Intruder alert. It comes from… "

The girl paused for a moment. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not seeing things. She wasn't.

"Unit 1," Akira said, eyes widening.

This was bad.

xXx

Unit 1 was remarkably unprotected. H-Neun had almost thought it was a trap. It had to be. L-Elf would never be so foolish as to leave something so important so… alone.

Unit 1 had been placed in an entirely different holding place from the rest of the Valvraves. Furthermore, there was no one around to keep watch. There were not even mechanics! It was like they had dropped the robot in the first place they could find after the battle.

Coming from L-Elf this was an oversight that bordered on obscene. It was unthinkable… except… Except, it made all too much sense if H-Neun's hypothesis was right.

Just how much had that guy meant to him?

H-Neun did not allow himself to contemplate the question for long. He shrugged and jumped into the cockpit with his bound and tied prisoner.

Pino blinked as she saw the two teenagers enter the cockpit. A handsome young male and a handcuffed, gagged, struggling female.

"This is…" Pino's face scrunched in thought. "This is definitely sex, right?"

H-Neun chuckled even as Nao's struggles grew fiercer.

"You," a new voice spoke. Another face appeared in the Valvrave's screen. He was male, unlike Pino, and his hair was blue as opposed to blonde, yet there was something undeniably similar about the two.

"I remember you," Prue said, his eyes fixed on H-Neun.

"Is he a friend of brother?" Pino asked.

"Oh, I very much doubt we have met," H-Neun replied with an easy smile, even as his hand made its way to one of his pockets. "I'd say you have me confused with someone else, but I really hate the idea there is someone there with looks as good as mine."

"No," Prue said. "That night. You were there."

H-Neun struck before the blue-haired man could go any further. He drew a small, harmless looking cylindrical device from his pocket and stabbed it into the controls.

Green light filled the cockpit.

Nao could only stared in amazement. Perhaps for the first time, Pino and Prue screamed as pain flooded their systems. It was only through sheer force of will that Pino managed to trigger an alert before losing consciousness.

Alarms filled the air.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise," H-Neun mused out loud. He did not seem bothered by it.

The Dorssian held the small cylindrical device in front of him. While before it had been grey and dull, now the light of Runes shone brightly through it.

One down.

He turned to Nao.

"I guess we really need to put on a show now."

xXx

Akira and Saki were not the first to arrive. They would arrive minutes later only to find a knocked out Prue and Pino. The first person to arrive at the scene was not a student. It was not even L-Elf.

It was A-Drei.

He happened to be close by when the alarm went off. Training took over and he was soon running towards the source. He had not arrived in time to see the perpetrator, but he was a good tracker. Even with only one eye, he could see the clues left behind.

Making sure to leave the path marked for L-Elf, A-Drei chased after the intruder. It came as a surprise to him when the path took him to the city. A proper exit route should have led to the hangars. Nevertheless, he kept going, making sure to watch out for any possible traps.

He did not need to have bothered. His path was clear. It was an invitation and his host stood ready for him in the middle of one of the city's empty streets.

"Long time no see, little prince," H-Neun said, his gun pointed not at A-Drei but rather at the girl he kept as a hostage. He held Nao in front of him, blocking most of his body from view. The feel of a gun against her head had temporarily paralyzed the poor girl.

"H-Neun," A-Drei breathed out. To his credit the slight widening of his eye was the only thing that betrayed the shock he truly felt. Millions of thoughts raced through his mind. He was alive? How? Why appear now?

No, rather, was this truly H-Neun? A double was possible.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

A double or someone else wearing his body.

"Let me take a guess," H-Neun said with an easy grin. "How can you be sure I am me? Why now? Why here? All those and a little more, ain't that right? Should I try to earn your trust? Tell you some classified info? Drop a hint like…"

H-Neun trailed off, an odd look crossed his face before he shrugged.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter. I can't really prove anything. Believe what you want."

"Do you expect me to be satisfied with that sort of answer," A-Drei said, his gun pointed at H-Neun.

"I could always talk to you about the time you screamed like a little girl when you found a cockroach in your pillow," H-Neun said, seemingly unconcerned. "By the way, I was the one who put it there. I really should have gone the extra mile and added a camera. I am willing to bet your face was priceless."

It was the grin that settled it for A-Drei. The same stupid, annoying, cocksure grin.

His eyes narrowed.

This was H-Neun, alright.

He did not put the gun down. Just because he believed it was his old friend did not mean he was not an enemy now.

H-Neun just looked at him, amused. "Please, you are not going to shoot."

"Oh." A-Drei raised an eyebrow. "Care to share why?"

"You are you," H-Neun said. "You may be pointing that gun to my head, but I have a hostage. You shoot me and you risk hitting her."

Nao's eyes widened. She stared at the gun in A-Drei's hands with dread. Her life at the hand of a Dorssian? Not a comfortable thought.

"Now, you're a good shot, your highness. We all are."

Except Q-Vier.

"L-Elf or X-Eins would have taken the shot already. They have enough faith in their skills for that. Q-Vier… well he would have shot something by now. You though? You're not going to."

A-Drei glared. H-Neun's voice had an annoying singsong quality to it. As if the older teen knew something he didn't.

"And why wouldn't I?" A-Drei asked, if only to buy time. "Like you said, I am a good shot."

H-Neun chuckled.

"You will not shoot, because unlike the rest of our little group, you had a good upbringing."

A-Drei stayed silent and H-Neun's smile grew.

"Royalty has a duty towards the people, ain't that right?" He said, holding Nao closer. "You always were too traditional. If you fight an opponent you have an advantage over, you always give him ample time to surrender. You prefer taking prisoners over on-field executions. You will minimize civilian casualties whenever you can. Aren't you just a regular nice guy?"

A-Drei glared.

"And of course, you will not, ever, put a civilian in danger through your actions, not one under your care," H-Neun said.

It would be different situation if A-Drei had no loyalty towards Module 77, but that was not the case. Regardless of whatever the Royalist faction told him to do, Module 77 was important to his and L-Elf's goals.

The people of Module 77 were thus under his protection.

It was the duty of a noble.

"Very good, H-Neun," A-Drei said. In different circumstances he would have clapped. "You are right. I will not risk a civilian casualty."

H-Neun felt the gun against the back of his head before he saw A-Drei's smile.

"Especially when there is a much easier way to capture you," A-Drei said.

"L-Elf," H-Neun said without even trying to look. There was no need for him to turn. There should be only one person in the entire Module capable of sneaking up on him.

"H-Neun," L-Elf replied, his gun not wavering an inch. "Release the hostage. Give yourself up, and I will make sure you will be treated in accordance to the Papua New Guinea Convention."

H-Neun chuckled. "Somehow, that's not all that reassuring coming from you of all people, Mister One Man Army. Still, good show. Really good show. You two were always such a good team."

Both relaxed when they saw H-Neun let his arm drop, no longer pointing the gun at Nao's head. Nao, having less restraint than both, almost fell to the ground in sheer relief.

"But you get way too cocky when you think you have won."

Both instantly tensed.

Two experienced set of eyes looked around for the source of H-Neun's confidence. While it could be just a bluff, if the opponent was H-Neun they could not afford to be careless.

A-Drei saw it first.

"L-Elf, behind you!"

"Sad to say as it is to say, I am expendable for my employee. Are you?" H-Neun said even as L-Elf turned around.

The skies of Module 77 were not empty.

A Splicer soared above, its weapons aimed right at them.

Years of training took over as A-Drei and L-Elf dove for cover, leaving H-Neun and Nao in the middle of the street.

Guns roared.

The street broke under the assault, sending dust flying all over the place. A-Drei coughed as he tried to locate the Splicer. He did not have a hard time doing so. It was close… too close for an air assault and coming closer each second.

His eyes widened.

"L-Elf!" He shouted. He need not have bothered. His partner had come to the same conclusion.

Both their guns rang through the street even as the Splicer passed mere inches above the ground.

When the dust cleared there was no one there.

"He got us," A-Drei said, displeasure plain to see on his face as the Splicer flew away from them. H-Neun was no doubt on-board.

The Splicer's "attack" had not been an attempt to silence H-Neun. It had been a rescue plan. They had both dove for cover, leaving the way clear. The initial assault had provided the perfect cover.

Still, it had been a risky move. The Splicer had not even slowed down for H-Neun to enter. Whoever was inside had probably just opened the cockpit at the last second for H-Neun to jump through.

H-Neun could have died at any point of the plan.

"We need to bring the Valvraves up here, before he gets away," A-Drei said.

"It is already too late," L-Elf said, his eyes never leaving the Splicer.

A-Drei looked at him, not understanding. Comprehension dawned a second later.

The Splicer crashed through the Module's dome.

Since the moment they unveiled the Magus to the world, this would be the country's first true loss.

The Module's dome would take some time to repair, but the true magnitude of the loss would only hit them later in the day.

L-Elf would be the first to realize the truth. The sound that came from his mouth when he did was not human.

Rather than a man, it sounded like something that would come out of a wounded beast.

A sound frightening and terrible in its rage.

xXx

The trip back had been hell.

Under other circumstances he would be patting himself on the back. Sure, there had been some downsides, his complete inability to drop even one hint of his location to A-Drei being the main one.

H-Neun frowned. He had been (and still was) unable to even form a thought regarding the location of the base. The information just slipped through his fingers like water every time he tried to conjure it up.

Damn Magius.

Regardless, things had gone even better than expected. Sure, he had almost killed himself with that last gambit. If he had made just one mistake when programming the machine's autopilot… it would not have been pretty. Still, he needed to risk his life if he wanted to get one up over L-Elf and A-Drei.

Yep, he had a lot to feel proud about.

Problem was, a video game was not enough of a distraction to ignore a squirming hostage who would not stop glaring at him. She had a good reason to, but the plan needed one hostage. It was just bad luck she ran into him.

She had one hell of a glare though. He had to give her that.

And that wasn't even getting into the… biological sample.

Decomposition did not smell nice. Sure, Dr. Tokishima had said he did not care about the state of the sample as long as he got it, but was some sort of cooling unit too much to ask?

He was almost glad to be back at the base. At least he was until the guards dragged him through the "debriefing procedure."

He had been poked, prodded, interrogated and God knew what else. It only made sense. The Magius had no idea what he could have gotten during his trip and did not trust him one bit.

He really hated Magius.

It had taken some hours, but they had let him go. H-Neun found his steps leading him right towards Dr. Tokishima's lab. While he could not say he liked the man, he was the only person in the base who would talk to him at all, meaning unless he wanted to go mad of boredom, he was going to spend a lot of time in that lab.

"Ah, H-Neun," Soichi Tokishima said once H-Neun opened the doors. "Good, I was afraid you were not going to be on time."

H-Neun looked around the lab. "On time? You have something important going on today?"

One glance gave him the answer before the doctor even opened his mouth. There was new equipment around the place. The most eye-catching piece by far was a large crystal tube rising from the ground all the way to the ceiling. It was connected to other machines by dozens of cables, big and small.

That was not what called H-Neun's attention. What called his attention was what floated in the tube, the biological sample he had retrieved from the Module with a little help.

The body of Tokishima Haruto.

"Oh, you have no idea!" Soichi said, looking like a kid in a candy store as he literally skipped around his lab. "I have been getting ready for this even before you left. I had worked out the theory a long time ago, but I was held back by the technology."

And international law.

Soichi rubbed his hands together. "To think I would get a chance like this so soon! How glad am I to have come here!"

Soichi moved from screen to screen, double checking equations and numbers H-Neun could not make heads or tails of.

"It was just a matter of modifying their equipment a little for my purposes. I must say Magius technology is terribly interesting, if a little wasteful in some areas. Well, nothing I cannot fix in time. I am just buzzing with ideas!"

H-Neun coughed. "Eh, doc? Not to rain on your parade, but I am having a hard time following you."

"Of course. I apologize," Soichi said without feeling or sounding the least bit sorry. "I tend to forget myself at times. No, there is no need to explain. Just watch."

With the push of a button a red liquid entered the tube. The clear water holding Haruto's body soon changed color and Haruto's body… Haruto's body dissolved.

H-Neun fought the urge to turn away as he saw flesh and bone become nothing more than oddly colored liquid in front of his eyes.

"H-Neun," Soichi said, in an unusually serious tone. "Do you know what the problem with cloning is?"

The youth blinked, surprised by the sudden question. "Eh, not really."

"It is inefficient," Soichi said, plainly. "When people first thought of the concept, the ideal was to fully recreate a human. Reality bitterly disappointed. You can create a copy, but he will be just a baby. A clone will need to grow like everyone else. Worse, he will not inherit any memories. Without experience, knowledge or age, what good is a clone? The people who claimed success after cloning a measly sheep should have just shot themselves."

It was almost scary how plainly Soichi said all of this, as if he was discussing the weather.

"They were fools who did not dare to investigate further. They were missing the final piece of the puzzle."

H-Neun chose not to mention cloning research was strictly forbidden. More importantly, he chose not to ask what Dr. Tokishima's experience with that branch of science was.

Soichi stayed silent for a moment, looking at the liquid that was once his son.

"It is a shame you know?" He said suddenly.

H-Neun tilted his head ever so slightly. "What is?"

"If I had him a few days earlier I could have done it before the third day."

H-Neun did not reply. His eyes were on the small device Dr. Tokishima had taken out of his pocket. He knew it. He had used it on the Valvrave.

It was the device that held the Runes of Unit 1.

In a swift movement, Soichi Tokishima connected it to the larger machine.

And there was light.

Murky liquid glowed with the light of Runes. Green light shined even as Soichi's laughter filled the lab.

"Look at it, isn't it beautiful!" He said with open arms.

Green light glowed as numerous bubble rose in the tube, almost as if the liquid was boiling. Then H-Neun saw it.

Bone.

It was small but growing. Bit by bit, pieces of bone grew into a skeleton. Muscle followed. He saw lungs and a heart form before his very eyes. He saw skull and teeth. He saw a mouth open up and lungs fill.

He heard the scream.

The thing in the tube trashed violently. Its fists banged against its prison, but it was no use.

It was... insane. It was too much. H-Neun laughed. He laughed as he watched a human body form before his very eyes. He laughed as he saw it trashing around and screaming itself hoarse, all of its nerves no doubt alive with pain.

There was no joy in that laughter. Only hysteria.

He laughed even as the lights faded and the completely human body fell unconscious.

"Welcome back, my son!" Dr. Tokishima said. H-Neun looked at the man. On that moment there was no prouder father on the universe.

H-Neun fell to his knees. His laugh had long since become weak.

If he stayed around too long going mad with boredom would be the least dangerous thing that could happen to him.

 

 

 

* * *

 

AN: Yes, that just happened. It is not Valvrave if I don't do something crazy every now and then.

Plus, the story is called The Return for a reason.

On the subject of Nao. She's technically not an OC. She's from Valvrave Undertaker.

Which this author shamelessly admits he hasn't read. I just have knowledge from translated promotional material.

What can I say? I needed a female character. Akira and Saki were out because they were VVV pilots (plus putting Saki and Haruto together would have made things way too easy). Takahi has another role. Same with Shoko and Iori. That left background characters… or Nao who has the fighting experience necessary for this.

Totally killed Jin though.

Finally, as should be obvious by now, H-Neun is really good at what he does. I have left some hints, but there was some behind the scenes stuff going on while he was on the Module. Next chapter should give some insight on that.

Plus a good look at L-Elf mental state. That should be fun.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Valvrave and all that stuff.

 

* * *

 

 

Focus.

564\. 563. 562.

Standard emotional control training. Count back.

561\. 560. 559.

Be calm. Be cold. A soldier is a machine.

558, 557, 556.

It did not matter if they had stolen Tokishima's body.

555554553552551.

It did not matter if they had stolen his  _friend_!

L-Elf slammed his fist against the table, sending papers and pens all over the floor. The rest of his room was in a similar state with furniture thrown around and broken. L-Elf had taken his anger out on whatever was at hand. He had realized the real motive behind the attack far too late.

Tokishima's body had been stolen.

H-Neun had been a distraction. He understood that much now. There was no way his former teammate could have had the time to steal Tokishima's body. L-Elf had kept the place under careful surveillance. Only when the alarm had led him away had a window of opportunity opened.

Possibilities danced in L-Elf's mind. Dozens of them appeared in the blink of an eye only to be discarded with ruthless efficiency. L-Elf already had a rough idea of who to blame.

The list of people who would want a sample of the so-called Type 7 Lifeforms was not small. The list of people who would have known about Tokishima's death and could have access to the supposedly dead H-Neun began and ended with one word.

Magius.

He wanted to kill them.

For a single moment, L-Elf wanted to do nothing more than to find them and burn their entire civilization to ashes.

How much more did they intend to take away from him?

Methods of revenge appeared in his mind, each one crueler than the last. Only one thought stopped him from enacting any of them.

They would not have wanted that.

What Lieselotte wanted, what Tokishima… what Haruto wanted was not extermination.

L-Elf sighed, leaning back against a broken chair. He could feel the strength draining from his body.

A new country. That was what they wanted. That was the dream that they had left him. For their sake (and his, no matter how much he may want to deny it) he had to fulfill that goal.

L-Elf took a deep breath. Recent events had weakened the iron control he held over his emotions. He had managed to put a good front so far, but it was clear he was not at 100%. The security he had put around Haruto would not have failed so easily if he had been.

No, rather, he would not have fallen for H-Neun's diversion at all if he had been working at full capacity. He would have realized something was wrong. His temper was getting the better of him. He was being far too rash with his actions.

Like with the students.

He had not mentioned it and he was sure only a few had realized it, but they had taken too long in rescuing them. Many of the students could have died in that time. After re-taking the module, rescuing them should have been his first priority.

L-Elf just did not want to do it.

L-Elf could not bring himself to care about what happened to that cowardly lot; so he had taken care of other things first. He had reunited with Renbokoji's group, then searched for the remains of Unit III and V. The tasks had taken quite a bit of time, leaving the wounded, scared students alone.

In the end, the powerless students had been forced to accept their rule if they wanted to survive. Given the results, L-Elf could get away with saying it had all gone according to plan.

The truth was he had been angry at them. He blamed them. If he had just a few more pieces to play with, the battle could have ended with no casualties on their side. If every student had been willing to offer up a minimum amount of Runes, the Valvraves would have been at their best. Tokishima would have fought the suggestion at the beginning, but L-Elf was confident he could have convinced him.

Their battle potential would have gone up considerably.

Tokishima would have survived.

So, maybe, just maybe, L-Elf had, for a moment, considered letting all those cowards die, drifting endlessly in space.

He sighed.

This was not helping.

They… they would not have wanted this. He had to keep reminding himself of the fact. In the end, it was the only thing that mattered. If he didn't hold onto this tiny thing, this last link…

He did not know what he would become.

xXx

Hours later, L-Elf was at the head of the conference table. On his face there were no signs of his previous emotional outburst. His arms rested on the sides of his chair as he surveyed the attendants. Otamaya and Ninomiya would be missing this meeting as well.

Someone had to keep the students under control. They were scared and wounded. The wrong stimulus could create chaos. In a way, it was a good thing the students were like that.

They might have noticed the attack otherwise.

"We all know why we have gathered here," L-Elf said, choosing to forgo the formalities. "A-Drei, report."

As the one who had spent most time with the intruder, he had placed this duty on A-Drei. At least, that was the official reason. The truth was L-Elf was not certain he would be able to keep calm while narrating the events.

A-Drei nodded and stood up. True to his character, the Dorssian youth had a neatly typed report in hand.

"At approximately fifteen hundred hours yesterday," A-Drei began, "an intruder sneaked into the Module aboard a Splicer. None of our radar systems managed to detect its presence. Subsequent analysis indicates the Splicer was likely equipped with some type of stealth system."

Kibukawa chose to speak up from his seat. "The Phantoms are the only other technology that we know of that offer a similar level of stealth. It is unlikely they are unrelated."

A silence settled over the room for a moment. Most of them had already arrived at a similar conclusion. Regardless, they needed to put all the clues on the table first.

"Some time later, the intruder took one of the students, one Ohta Nao, as a prisoner," A-Drei went on. "It is unknown if the intruder planned it or if he was forced to do so after being discovered."

Frowns filled the room at the mention of their kidnapped classmate. While none of the students in the room could say they knew the girl, she was still a student of Sakimori.

A-Drei did not say it but he was willing to bet his remaining eye H-Neun had planned to take a hostage from the beginning.

"Along with the hostage, the intruder made his way to the Valvrave Unit 1. A review of the cameras in the cockpit has revealed his actions to us. In there, he used a device of some type on the Unit, causing damage to the… lifeforms inhabiting the Valvrave."

"Rune extraction," Akira said, drawing a few looks.

"That's what Prue told us," Saki explained before sighing. "What he was willing to tell us at any rate. He doesn't like us much."

L-Elf frowned. While the entity known as Prue was currently living inside Unit 1, he was not quite an ally yet. Pino was the only reason he remained civil so far and with her unconscious, the blue haired entity was proving to be difficult.

"I was the first one to arrive at the scene," A-Drei said, a little annoyed at being interrupted twice.

This was not proper protocol.

"The culprit had already fled, but I managed to track him and caught up with him. No. Rather, it would be more accurate to say he was waiting for me."

A-Drei paused. Part of him did not wish to say his next words. Regardless, he went on.

"After seeing him… I can say beyond a shadow of doubt the culprit was a former comrade of mine, H-Neun."

"His body at least," L-El added, and that was the only cue A-Drei needed. The silver haired boy nodded and went back to his seat, letting L-Elf take the metaphorical stage.

"I was able to join A-Drei and we tried to apprehend the intruder. This proved difficult. A Splicer came to his aid, possibly piloted by someone else. This brings us to our primary concern."

Everyone on the room tensed. While seemingly calm, something dark lurked beneath L-Elf's voice.

"H-Neun was not alone," L-Elf said. "Between the time I left my quarters and the time H-Neun escaped, someone managed to take something from us. H-Neun was a distraction. While we were busy going after him, someone stole  _Tokishima Haruto's body_."

Dark looks crossed the room. The knowledge had been passed around already, at least among the members of this room. It was impossible for it not to have done so after L-Elf's initial reaction. Nevertheless, most of them stayed quiet to let L-Elf speak.

Saki had no such compulsions.

She banged her fist against the table with surprising force.

"Bastards," she muttered under her breath, the look on her face just daring anyone to call her out on her actions.

L-Elf did not reprimand her. If anything, it was a relief seeing anger so clearly displayed. Her glowing violet eyes were almost frightening in their intensity.

_Glowing_  eyes?

L-Elf blinked. Saki's eyes were now perfectly normal.

Anyone else would dismiss it as a trick of light, but L-Elf was certain of what he saw. His training would not allow anything less than perfection when taking in details.

Rukino Saki's eyes had been glowing.

His mind flashed back to the powers displayed by Cain and later Haruto.

Interesting.

The phenomenon required an investigation. However, now was not the time for it.

"By the time the Splicer retrieved H-Neun, Tokishima's body was no doubt already on it," L-Elf said, smoothly regaining the control of the room. "The Splicer broke through the dome and flew away. Tracking it proved impossible. We can assume it used its stealth system to accomplish this. This concludes the recollection of the events that transpired. Any questions?"

L-Elf was not merely asking for questions. He was asking for ideas. While he had already pieced everything together, spoon-feeding them would do no good. He needed Module 77 to get used to this type of meeting. He needed them to start thinking.

"Eh, I have a question," Satomi said, raising his hand before realizing he was not in a classroom anymore. Blushing a little, he put his hand down before continuing.

"The Dorssian that infiltrated… just what can you tell us about him?" The question was directed at L-Elf but it was A-drei who answered it.

"H-Neun was part of our squad," the noble said. "We have been together since our days at Karlstein. H-Neun…"

A-Drei paused for a moment, frowning.

"H-Neun had doubts about Colonel Cain. Looking back on it, I can see he never fully trusted the man. He started investigating him." A sad look crossed his face. "We never knew until he was reported dead and accused of treason. However, he made sure some of the information he had uncovered reached us."

A-Drei looked at L-Elf.

"It was the reason I knew to trust you that day."

"So," Saki said. "How did a dead guy get all the way here?"

She was not the least bit sorry about interrupting a possible bonding moment between A-Drei and L-Elf. Her concern for the current situation far outweighed any other considerations.

"Faking someone's death is not hard," Kibukawa said. "If he discovered something he shouldn't have, he could have been captured and held prisoner instead of been killed so they could find out what he had managed to learn about them."

"We are all thinking the same thing then?" Saki spoke and it was certainly not a question. Everyone on the room could think of the most likely culprits.

H-Neun had been investigating Cain before he died.

Cain was a Magius.

Most likely, H-Neun had been captured by Magius. The culprit could only be one.

The Council.

"Wait," Satomi said, "If that is the case, then how do we know he was who he appeared to be?"

He looked at A-Drei and L-Elf. His face had caution written all over it.

"Not that I am doubting you or saying you saw things, but if it was them who had him then…"

He did not finish. He could not finish.

_How do you know it was not a Magius wearing you old friend's face?_

It was too cruel for him to say it.

L-Elf had no such problems.

"It could have been a Magius possessing H-Neun's body," he said without emotion. "H-Neun was not the type to change his loyalties so easily."

"Nevertheless," A-Drei said, "I believe the man we met was the real H-Neun. His mannerisms were too perfect for him to be someone else."

For a moment he looked like he wanted to say something else, but a look from L-Elf stopped him.

"The possibility cannot be fully discarded," L-Elf admitted. "In any case, we can only speculate for now. There is a far more pressing matter that requires discussion. After all, H-Neun was not the only person involved during the events."

Everyone focused on L-Elf. That was right. There had been one more person. Someone had stolen Haruto's body while all eyes had been on H-Neun.

"There was a second person, someone who managed to get past the security I had put around Tokishima's body in a rather short amount of time," L-Elf reminded them, "yet that is not the most worrisome part."

While the students looked confused, Kibukawa's eyes widened in alarm. "You can't mean…?"

"That is right. It is normal to think H-Neun and another person infiltrated the Module and left, but what if that was not the case. What if that person was already here?"

L-Elf let the full weight of that statement hit before dropping the next bomb.

"What if that person is still on the Module?"

xXx

Utter chaos had broken out upon L-Elf's announcement. In the end, L-Elf had called for a thirty minute recess.

No trained force would have reacted like that.

Times like these, A-Drei missed the military.

Technically, he had never left it. Officially, he was performing the duty assigned to him by the Royalist faction. He was to lend his aid to their allies in Module 77.

And that was the problem.

This was no trained force. This was a group L-Elf had somehow managed to pull together. It spoke volumes of his teammate's capacity, but he wondered if it would be enough in the future. Still, he could not say he was not grateful for the lack of discipline this once. It gave him the opportunity to discuss something with L-Elf.

While the others talked among themselves and split into smaller groups, A-Drei discreetly followed L-Elf into another room.

"Did you need to talk to me about something?" L-Elf asked without turning back. He did not need to. He had known A-Drei was following him all along.

A-Drei did not expect anything less of him, which was precisely why they needed to have this conversation.

"Do you really not believe it was H-Neun?" He asked.

"There is no conclusive proof and the abilities of the Magius are not to be underestimated," L-Elf replied.

To that A-Drei only had three words.

"You are lying."

This time L-Elf did turn around and his gaze told A-Drei he wanted to choose his next words with great care.

"We have known each other for years," A-Drei said. "The bond between the five of us is not something so easily dismissed."

They had fought together. They had killed together. They had survived together. How many times had they saved each other's lives? How many enemies had they overcome? How many times had they faced death together?

"I know what I saw," A-Drei said. "I could never mistake H-Neun for anyone else and neither could you. The subtle gestures. The body language. The attitude. That was the real article, not someone wearing his skin; so why would you hide it?"

There was also one more clue, but it was not yet the time to bring it out.

L-Elf stared into A-Drei's eyes for a short eternity before speaking. "What would it have accomplished? What difference does it make if it was H-Neun that committed the crimes in person or if it was a Magius? What difference does it make to Module 77?"

This was not Dorssia.

This was Module 77.

In their old squad, the knowledge of H-Neun's survival would have compelled them to launch a rescue operation right away, but that was not the case here.

The students had never met H-Neun. Whether it was a Magius or H-Neun, for them it was the same. Their feelings would not change. Both were just names to put under the label of Enemy. In fact, it was better for Module 77 to place the blame on a Magius.

Even L-Elf's negotiation skills would be hard-pressed to convince the students to try to take H-Neun back alive.

"How odd," A-Drei finally said, leaning against one of the walls.

"What is?"

"I have never known you to place yourself in a situation where you have so little control? Do you trust this group that much?"

Unsaid went the question, "Are they worthy of such trust?" but both of them heard it just fine.

The students would be helpless without L-Elf. They acknowledged that much, yet L-Elf was not the sole authority. He could have grasped absolute control of the Module had he played his cards right. Instead, a large part of the decision-making power rested in a mix of influential students.

It was a risky move on L-Elf's part.

To A-Drei's surprise, L-Elf smiled, but there was neither happiness nor sadness to be found there.

"It is not them I trust," he simply said. A-Drei waited, but L-Elf did not volunteer more information.

"Is that why you hid it from them?" A-Drei asked. This was it. The real reason he had cornered L-Elf.

"We have been together for a long time," A-Drei went on before L-Elf had any chance to deflect the question. "We learned a number of codes and operational procedures together. What H-Neun did here was not just an operation. It was a message. You know it as well. You stopped me from talking about it during the meeting, but I shall not hold silence here."

"H-Neun went out of his way to be visible to us," A-Drei continued. "He called our attention. He forced his employer to reveal his hand. L-Elf,  _he was asking us to rescue him_."

xXx

Miles away back on Earth, the topic of A-Drei's and L-Elf's discussion had his own circumstances to worry about; said worries mostly centered on the scientist in front of him, Tokishima Soichi.

The man barely paid any attention to the Dorssian youth as he went about his work. The lab the Council had given to the Doctor was relatively large. The walls were lined up with equipment H-Neun could loosely identify as high tech medical computers. There were no windows and the walls were without color. The floor was similarly boring. Outside the only entrance, H-Neun knew there were four guards at all times.

Part of him felt insulted that Tokishima merited such measures while he had free rein (within limits) of the place.

The guards, for the most part, never ventured into the lab, which left Dr. Tokishima and H-Neun with the place to themselves. As the lab was spacious and most of its floor unoccupied, this meant a lot of free space for the two.

Meant. Past tense.

Since day one, the good doctor had requested more and more equipment. As it was now, the lab had transformed into a labyrinthine room with walls and walls of high tech equipment, most of which H-Neun could not make heads or tails of. There were monitors, cameras, computers, tanks filled with bubbling liquids and weird sounds. There was barely room to walk!

Right now, the monitors occupied the lion's share of Dr. Tokishima's interest.

Some showed medical data. Others showed pulse, brain activity and other things. A few showed ever-changing numbers H-Neun did not understand, and a few were connected to the cameras on the cell of Tokishima's still-unconscious son.

Soichi had not taken his eyes off the screens for a second.

H-Neun knew working for the Magius was going to expose him to new things. Cain had been the first clue of that. It had taken him weeks to come to terms with what he had seen Cain do during the invasion of Module 77.

Even if he had witnessed it firsthand it had been hard to believe. People don't suddenly glow. They don't survive an assault from a Valvrave. They most certainly do not float away. What he had seen back then had been so foreign to his natural sensibilities his brain had a hard time wrapping itself around the idea.

However, H-Neun was nothing if not flexible. He had grown used to the idea of non-humans. He had accepted their existence.

He was prepared to be surprised by them.

H-Neun was not prepared for Tokishima Soichi.

Oh, he had known about the man. One of the head researchers behind the Valvrave project; he had investigated that much back when he was spying on Cain. Tokishima Soichi could not be called anything other than dangerous. Anyone who had a hand in creating the Valvrave deserved no less.

The Valvraves were monsters.

The IDEAL was supposed to be the pinnacle of Dorssian engineering. They were war engines of over a hundred meters in length. Despite their bulk, their speed was not to be underestimated. An IDEAL could ram into an enemy at several times the speed of sound. Their sheer size ensured they could be loaded with a multitude of weapons. All ranges and all purposes. That was the IDEAL.

The Valvrave made them utterly obsolete.

The Valvraves were too strong, too fast, and too powerful.

Even the Kirschbaum made by adapting the technology from the Valvrave Colonel Cain had captured did not match up to the original.

The Kirschbaums had power on their side. They were tough and strong. Their ability to switch between modes added to their versatility, and the Lowenglitzen had undeniable destructive power.

But they could not dance. The Kirschbaum did not even come close to the effortless grace that was in every movement of the Valvraves.

Certainly, the Kirschbaums could more than put up a fight against the Valvraves when backed by the full resources of the Dorssian army with Waffes ready to switch out the batteries allowing for multiple uses of the Lowenglitzen and other units providing cover.

A skilled pilot in a Kirschabaum may even be able to make up for the difference in machines if he got lucky.

However, as far as pure specs went, the Valvraves were superior. If only there were more than five, they would completely change the face of war.

Tokishima Soichi was dangerous. H-Neun had known that.

Even so…

Even so!

That!

H-Neun fought the urge to kill the man on the spot.

What he had seen went beyond brilliance and into madness. Haruto Tokishima was dead. H-Neun had to put up with the smell of his decomposing body for hours on the trip back. It was not something that had been fixed with the regeneration Magius possessed.

Haruto Tokishima had died.

Haruto Tokishima's body had been dissolved before his eyes.

Haruto Tokishima had been rebuilt piece by piece.

Disturbing did not even begin to cover it. H-Neun was not a religious person, but this made him reconsider on whether there were things man was not supposed to do. What Dr. Tokishima had done was wrong on so many levels he could not even begin to describe it.

H-Neun had underestimated the scientist. Tokishima Soichi was not just a dangerous person.

The man was a person who could not be allowed to live.

Soichi Tokishima would have to die. He could not do it now. As much as he hated to admit it, his continued survival depended on the man for now. He was a wild card and as long as the Council paid more attention to him, H-Neun could find a way to escape.

For now, the mad scientist would have to live.

"Lovely!" Cried out Soichi Tokishima while looking at his son's vital signs, either unaware or uncaring of H-Neun's dark thoughts.

"Oh, whatever are you doing back there, young man?" Soichi said without turning back. "My son is about to get up. Come closer. A front row seat for an event like this does not come often."

H-Neun looked at the man for a moment before sighing and walking up next to the doctor. As Haruto's vitals picked up, Dr. Tokishima soon started delivering messages to the soldiers through an intercom.

H-Neun raised an eyebrow when he heard the instructions.

"The girl is still alive?" He asked.

"Oh, I managed to persuade them," Soichi replied, eyes still glued to the screens. "It was a good thing you brought that girl. She will speed the process considerably."

Sure enough, Ohta Nao, the same girl H-Neun had kidnapped, appeared on the screen a few minutes later as she opened the door to Haruto's cell. She carried a tray of food with her.

H-Neun tilted his head to the side.

"Are you sure that's safe?" H-Neun asked.

He had no right to ask about the girl's safety. He was the one who brought her here in the first place. Still, H-Neun had no problem allowing himself this bit of hypocrisy. If at all possible, he wanted the girl to live.

"My son's condition is perfect. No harm will come to him," Dr. Tokishima replied without missing a beat.

"I meant the girl."

"Her?" Soichi shrugged. "She will die."

xXx

Dark.

Where?

Where. Space. Location. Place. Places. Earth. Moon. Asia. America. Africa. Europe. Dorssia. ARUS. JIOR. Module. Module 77. Sakimori. Home.

Who?

Who. Animal. Human. Kamitsuki. Magius. Male. Female. Adult. Teenager. Worker. Student. Soldier. Pilot.

A burst of pain shot through his brain. Too much. It was too much.

Who was he?

No. Where was he? What was he? Was he even a He?

No.

Don't panic. Think! Focus!

Breathe.

Huh? He could breathe. He could feel it. The air going in and out of his body. He could breathe. Lungs. He had them. He had lungs and a mouth. He could feel them. A body, he had a body. He had legs and a torso. He had arms and legs.

He could feel.

He could feel the air around him. He could feel a bed of some type against his back. He could feel the blood flowing through his body.

He could smell.

He could hear.

He could taste.

He could se… no, he still had his eyes closed. Why had he not noticed?

…

How did one open his eyes?

How did one move his body, for that matter?

Bones. Muscles. Nerves. Nervous system.

Move.

Move!

Open!

Slowly, almost painfully, his eyes opened for the first time. Immediately, he flinched them shut when the light hit. It took a few more tries until his eyes got used to it. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted him. Grey ceiling. Grey walls too, judging from what he could catch from the corner of his eye. The ceiling was not that large. A small room then? A cell?

There was only so much he could see without moving his head...

However, moving his neck proved a tough challenge. Moving hurt. It was uncomfortable, as if he had never moved a muscle before.

In a way, he hadn't.

He managed to turn to the side just in time to see the door of his cell open up.

He blinked. It hurt.

The person was a woman, a young one. About his age. He had no idea what age he was and he had never seen his body in a mirror, yet it felt right to say this girl was of similar age to him.

She had long, wavy pink hair and stepped in carrying a tray of food. Upon seeing him, her blue eyes went wide with shock. The tray hit the ground not a second later.

"Tokishima!" She said running towards him. "Is it really you?"

The girl knelt down next to his bed and looked closely at his face. "Just how… I saw your… You're alive!"

As Nao struggled to form coherent sentences, one word kept repeating itself in the young man's mind.

"Toki… shima?" He asked.

Pain stabbed into the side of his head and he managed to bring a hand to massage his forehead. This did not go unnoticed by Nao.

"Tokishima! Are you alright? Can I help?" She asked, trying to discern the cause of his discomfort.

That name…Tokishima…

The pain doubled.

"Tokishima… Haruto?" He said though gritted teeth.

"Yes… just…" The girl looked uncertainly at the youth. His body had started to sweat at an alarming rate. "Do you want me to call anyone? I am not sure if they have doctors in here, but…?"

"I… no…I'm just…"

Missing something.

What was he missing?

Tokishima Haruto.

His name. Was it?

"I… need…"

What was it? It was like there was a pit inside of him, an emptiness.

He was…

"Name it," Nao said. "I'm not sure if I can get it for you but I will at least try."

Hungry.

"I need..." He trailed off, staring at Nao.

He could feel it now. There it was. What he was missing.

"Toki… shima?" Nao said as Haruto took hold of her hand.

Nao barely had time to react as Haruto wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his bed.

"Hold it! What do you think you are-"

Haruto's teeth sank into her neck.

That was it. He just needed to feed.

xXx

"What the hell?" H-Neun said.

"Oooh, upgrades!" Soichi Tokishima only had eyes for the numerous screens in front of him.

xXx

Nao was not quite sure what was going on.

She had been taken prisoner. She understood that much. They had not tried to interrogate her. Rather, once they had checked for weapons, her captors had thrown her in a cell. She had been scared. She was still scared. Just what were they going to do with her?

It had been a surprise when they had taken her out. The guards grunted out instructions and she had little choice but to follow them. It was even a simple job. Just take food to another prisoner.

Then she had seen him.

Tokishima Haruto. Alive and well.

She knew the news. How could she not? She had seen his dead body! She had stayed next to it for hours while on that accursed Splicer.

Yet the boy in the cell was Toksihima Haruto. The pilot of the Valvrave. The hero of JIOR. The youth who fought the world.

She needed to help him. It was the only thing she knew for sure. How could she not want to help him? Everyone on the Module owed a lot to the pilots.

But something was wrong.

_Tokishima pulled Nao close, wrapping his arms around her._

What was he doing? Why had he been in pain? Why did he have trouble with his own name?

_Nao gasped as bit her neck._

Why was he attacking her?

_Bites became nibbles. His teeth lightly scraped against her skin as he started placing kisses along her neck._

Why?

_His hands caressed her back. Her muscles relaxed in spite of her inner protests. Shivers ran down her spine when she felt his tongue touch a particularly sensitive zone._

Why did it feel so  _good_?

He was attacking her. He had bitten her! So why was she leaning into him? Why was her face flushed with emotions other than anger?

Then he stopped. No more teeth on her neck. No tongue dancing on her skin. No delirious pleasure.

Nao whimpered and cursed herself for it

Pure red eyes peered into her and she found herself frozen on the spot. She couldn't move away. She did not want to look away.

A hand trailed up from her waist all the way to her chin. Nao did not fight as Haruto pulled her face close and claimed her lips for his own.

xXx

"…I was not expecting this," H-Neun said, suddenly feeling very awkward. He looked at Dr. Tokishima and found the man's happiness weird for an entirely different reason than usual.

Did the man plan to keep watching?

Creepy. That was way too creepy.

"Well, I must admit I expected him to be more forceful, but this works just as well," Soichi said.

H-Neun blinked. Several times.

"…I think I am going to ask for an explanation, because I am feeling really uncomfortable right now."

"I will assume you already know the basics of reproduction," Soichi said. "Despite appearances, I will tell you right now this is nothing of the sort."

H-Neun looked at the screen and raised an eyebrow.

"Not yet."

Soichi sighed. "Oh, H-Neun, you have much to learn. Would you engage in intercourse with a cow?"

"Of course you would not," Soichi said, preventing the Dorssian's indignant response. "Cows are food. We eat them. We take their milk and cut away their flesh. This is no different."

Soichi shrugged. "My son is just feeding. As you are surely aware of by now, Magius need to feed. Just as humans eat animals and plants, Magius feast on Runes."

"And humans are highest resource of Runes on the planet," H-Neun finished for him. The doctor had explained as much to him during one of their talks. It had put in perspective just what the Magius had done to him by placing the Rune Absorber on his back.

Bastards.

"Quite," Soichi replied. "My son has just returned to this world. It is only natural for him to want a first meal. Of course, there are other reasons."

The doctor grinned, delighting in knowledge only he fully understood.

"It is a good thing you brought that girl here. Anyone else would have done, but her memories would work far better as a reference point."

"Reference point?"

"Right now, my son's mind is in disarray. Knowledge and memories are in chaos. That is where the reference point comes in. Memories are interconnected through numerous links."

"For example," he said. "Seeing a car can make you remember an important event which happened in a car like a car crash. This, in turn, may lead to other memories linked to that event. The information in our minds is linked which makes it easy to summon, but that is not the case for my son who has been born again. There are no links or connections. He is full of unsorted information."

H-Neun crossed his arms. "And that's where the girl comes in?"

"Quite," Soichi replied. "Even as we speak he is taking her Runes and using them to form reference points with his own memories. Since they both lived in the same city and went to the same school, their memories have some degree of similarity which increases the efficiency of the process. Still, I must say my son has surprised me yet again. Fatherhood is truly something else."

Soichi Tokishima's definition of fatherhood was something H-Neun would not touch even with Kirschbaum.

"Does this have something to do with the upgrades you mentioned?" H-Neun asked instead.

"Quite," Soichi said while rubbing his hands together. "Oh, just look at this, H-Neun! Look at the readings! Are they not beautiful?"

The man pointed to one of the screens. The most H-Neun could tell was that the readings came from the girl he kidnapped. Still, if he stayed quiet long enough, he was certain the doctor would take care of the explanation.

Sure enough, he was right.

"Her pleasure centers are all being abnormally stimulated. The Runes in her mind are being manipulated in order to make sure all the information she receives is interpreted as pleasure! How wonderful!"

"He's… mind controlling her?"

"Her perception, at any rate, and the best part is I doubt he knows what he is doing," Soichi said, looking proud. "In this way he easily takes what he needs without causing her any discomfort. The phenomenon is likely caused by a subconscious desire to not do the girl harm even as his instincts guide him to feed on her."

He chuckled.

"Oh, my foolish son," Soichi said, "you care too much for the cattle."

xXx

The youth held Nao in his arms. He was not yet used to his body. As a result, his movements were slow and even clumsy at points.

To Nao, his grip might as well have been made of steel.

Every touch sent shivers down her spine. The way he lightly nibbled her earlobe took all the strength from her legs. Every single touch was electric. Cries of protest were replaced by approving moans as her mind was lost to pleasure.

The young man's thoughts were far more detached. The female body pressed against him did little to arouse his lust. In him, there was a need of a different type. With every passing moment, he could feel it. With every bite, he grew stronger. With every touch, he could see them.

Thoughts.

Memories.

Information.

_Ohta Nao. Female. Second year high school student. Sakimori Academy._

The information echoed in his mind and brought forth something new.

Tokishima Haruto. Male. Second year high school student. Sakimori Academy.

Haruto. His name. That was his name. He had been a student. He had lived in Module 77 and gone to Sakimori Academy. He was… he was…

_Pilot. Kagerou. Useful. L-Elf. Secret. War. Dorssia._

A pilot. He was the Valvrave's pilot. He was… a Kamitsuki. They had been fighting. They had been in a war against Dorssia. They had attacked the Module. Someone had helped them. L-Elf! He was… what was L-Elf to him?

_Lonely. Comrade. Jin. Friend. Dead._

A friend. L-Elf was his friend. He had friends. Yamada. Aina. Inuzuka-sempai. They were gone now, but there were still people he needed to protect. He couldn't give up. He had promised.

He had promised Rukino-san.

Saki.

Haruto's eyes widened as a flood of memories hit him.

No.

Nao yelped as Haruto pushed her away from him. The teenager leaped out of the bed, breathing heavily.

Not again.

It took a few seconds for him to realize Nao wasn't moving. Concern for her well-being raged against the knowledge he was the most dangerous thing in the room by far.

He was still hungry.

In the end, concern won out. Besides, putting distance between himself and others had quite never worked out before. Why should it start now?

"Ohta-san?" He asked, kneeling by her side.

The girl groaned weakly as Haruto took her vitals. Her pulse was weak but steadily recovering. Good.

All her clothes were on, which meant he hadn't done  _that_. He had just… eaten her.

The thought did little to raise his spirits.

"What… what happened?" Nao asked. The girl weakly opened her eyes and tried to sit. Tried to. Haruto had to help her to keep her from falling right back to the bed.

"I…" Haruto wavered for a second before answering. "I attacked you."

"Tokishima," the girl said. Her mind was still hazy. What had happened? She had been kidnapped and Tokishima was alive. They had told her to bring him food and…oh.

Oh!

Nao's face went bright red as multiple memories flashed through her mind. That had been…wow!

Misinterpreting her reaction for something else entirely, Haruto stepped back.

"I am really sorry!" Haruto said. He bent his body by a full ninety degrees while performing a deep bow.

"Huh?" Nao blinked, startled by the sudden action before waving her arms. "Ah no, it's okay really. It was…"

Kind of good actually.

"It is not okay!" Haruto said, and Nao was struck by the fierceness in his eyes.

"I was not in control of myself, but there is no denying what I did. I could have… I could have…"

Haruto looked away, unable to finish that sentence and it was only then Nao understood.

Oh.

The blush in Nao's face vanished. She would like to tell herself she would have never let things go that far, but it would be a lie. Tokishima could have done anything he wanted with her and there was not a thing she could have done about it.

The thought was sobering to an uncomfortable degree.

She did not hate Tokishima. Like much of the female population of Sakimori Academy (and some males) before that damned broadcast, she would not be averse to dating the pilot at least once, but that…

Something like that was entirely different.

"Just… what is going on here?" She finally asked him. At that moment she was not the pilot of the Kagerou or one of the most popular girls in school. She was just a lost child.

It was too much. Her home was gone. She had been kidnapped. Someone who was supposed to be dead wasn't.

Just what was going on?

"I don't know." It was all Haruto could say and he hated himself for it. He wished he had the answers to the question so clearly expressed in the girl's eyes, but that was not the case.

Just what had happened after the fight with Cain? Where was he now? Hadn't he… died?

"I don't know," Haruto repeated, "but I intend to find out."

_Let's make a promise. Neither of us will ever give up!_

That was all he could do for now. Even if he was lost, he just needed to keep walking until he found a path.

"If the two of us gather what we know, we might be able to find out something," he said, offering his hand to Nao. "After that, we can try to figure out just what this place is."

"That's the spirit!" A cheerful voice Haruto could not help but recognize echoed through the room. Both Haruto and Nao looked around but found no one. It seemed to be coming through speakers of some kind.

"An inquisitive mind is a wonderful quality to have. I am proud to see it in you," the voice went on.

"Father." The amount of casual disdain Haruto managed to put in the word was impressive.

"Father?" Nao softly echoed.

"Come now, if answers are what you seek, I will be more than glad to give them to you," Soichi said. A mechanical hiss signaled the doors of his cell opening; two armed guards were ready and waiting.

"If you will follow these nice men, they will take you to me. I daresay some quality parent-son bonding time is long overdue."

Haruto looked at the men. They wore nondescript uniforms, all grey with not a single type of identification in sight. They were large and had their guns trained on the two of them.

Haruto frowned.

He did not need to worry about bullets, if he could Jack one of them, they could escape.

But doing so would put Ohta-san at risk. He sighed. There was no other choice for now.

"What do we do?" Nao whispered to him.

"We don't have many options," Haruto replied, his voice just as low. "We both want answers and we are not going to find them if we stay here."

The two looked at each other and nodded.

Down the rabbit hole they went.

xXx

Tokishima Soichi was almost bouncing in place as he waited for his son to be escorted to his lab. The act drew more than one odd look from H-Neun, but Soichi was never one to care for such things.

The only thing that mattered was his son. He was just full of surprises.

Tokishima Soichi really liked surprises.

Surprises were unexpected happenings. Surprises meant there were still thing in this world he did not know. Surprises meant there was still so much to learn.

He had honestly thought the girl would die.

As he was now, Haruto did not need a huge quantity of Runes to survive, but Soichi knew the state of Haruto's mind would demand feeding the moment he regained consciousness. In a state where he could barely tell left from right, feeding until there was nothing left was only natural.

To think his son was able to control himself in that state!

Then again, maybe he should not be surprised. Only an inferior lifeform would fully surrender to instinct.

Which was not to say his son was perfect yet. Far from it. He still let sympathy for lower beings cloud his judgment. Perhaps he should have bought him a dog when he was a kid. His need for inferior companionship would have been sated at an early age. Oh well, now they would have ample time to work on that.

"Welcome, my son!" He said with open arms when the doors to his lab opened. In walked Tokishima Haruto and Ohta Nao, escorted by half a dozen guards.

Not that those guards could do anything if his son decided he wanted to escape, but there was no need to let them know that.

"Explain." In contrast to his father's jovial tones, Haruto's words might have been made out of ice.

"You!" Father and son turned to Nao whose finger was pointed at H-Neun. "You are the one who kidnapped me!"

"'Hey there," H-Neun said, raising his palm for a short wave.

The casual reply made Nao's cheeks red with anger. Only the knowledge they were surrounded by unfriendly soldiers kept her from doing more.

"Okay, that is enough of that." Soichi clapped to call for everyone's attention. "I believe you are looking for answers and I shall do my best to provide them."

Soichi motioned them to follow him through the maze of equipment that was his lab. They did, but not before trading reluctant glances with each other.

"My son," Soichi began while they walked, "as you remember now, thanks to your session with the lovely young girl next to you..."

Haruto flinched. He fought the urge to punch the man. Good as it might feel, it would do no good right now.

For her part, Nao refused to meet anyone's gaze, mortified by the knowledge they had been seen.

It had been her first kiss!

"You died," Soichi went on, always uncaring of the reactions of the people around him. "Unit 1 ate up all of your Runes."

"The battle with Cain," Haruto said. He could remember it clearly now.

"Hold it," Nao spoke up. "What do you mean died? You mean like… Rukino-san?"

"Homo sapiens novus," Soichi said. "All Valvrave pilots go through the ascension process; things such as being stabbed through the heart meant little to them. However, my son's condition went beyond that. Even his regenerative skills did not help him."

"Then how?" Haruto asked, looking at his father with hard eyes. "How am I alive?"

"I brought you back," his father said before finally stopping next to a large machine. H-Neun's eyes widened when he saw it.

So this was the doctor's game then?

"It was not easy," Dr. Tokishima said, seeing Haruto's incredulous look, "The theory, I had worked out a long time ago. I just needed to have H-Neun here bring your body to me, along with a collection of Runes from Unit 1."

"You are welcome," H-Neun said when Haruto turned his gaze to him.

"And though I did not ask him, bringing the young miss certainly helped," Soichi added, before addressing Nao. "I must say I expected you to die in that room. You are quite fortunate."

Nao decided she did not like this man at all.

"But… I used up all my Runes... what did you do?" Haruto asked, looking not at his father but at his own body. Something had happened. He was sure of it. He could feel it in his bones. In his entire body.

He was different now. He almost felt uncomfortable in his own skin in a way that had nothing to do with nervousness.

"I rebuilt you," Soichi said. "I reduced your body down to base materials. Your Runes were of great help towards that."

Haruto opened his mouth to object.

"Your Runes were not gone," his father said, anticipating Haruto's objection. "Runes fuel the Valvrave, but the relationship is not quite simple consumption."

The truth behind Runes was complicated, and if his theory was right even the Magius did not know everything. Only he, Soichi Tokishima, fully understood, and he was not about to share the secret with Haruto just yet or anyone else for the matter.

"Even when you gave all your Runes to the Valvrave, they were not gone forever," Soichi said. "The information needed was still there. Once I had the blueprints, reconstructing you was easy enough."

Haruto breathed. It was a deep breath. Any other action would have resulted in him lashing out at his father.

"Then this body…?"

Soichi smiled. "One hundred percent new!"

Haruto felt light-headed. He had died. For real this time.

He had died and been brought back.

What was he? Blueprints? What did that even mean? Was it that easy to make him?

Was he even Haruto anymore?

"Why?" He asked, his voice hoarse. It was the only thing he could do at the moment.

"As your father and creator, what else could I do? My son, you have not even begun to show your true potential," His father said, sounding like Haruto had just asked something ridiculous. "It took me a while to convince them of your value, but I suppose their intellect only goes so far."

"Them?" Haruto zeroed in on that word.

"You are working for the Council."

It was not a question. It was not even a theory. The moment the thought came to him, it instantly solidified into a fact.

Soichi nodded approvingly. "I always said you had a good brain. Well, I made it so of course it is good!"

Chuckling slightly at his own tactless joke, Soichi Tokishima continued. "Yes, we are currently inside a facility run by the Council. The working accommodations are quite suitable. I daresay you will grow to like them as well."

"Me?" Gears shifted inside Haruto's mind. He had died and been brought back to life by the combined efforts of his father and the Council. He could almost believe his father would do it just because he could, but the same could not be said for the Council.

If he had been brought back, then it had been for a reason.

"I am not a weapon," He said coldly.

"Of course you are not a weapon," Soichi said, insulted his son could even suggest such a thing. "Your value is far higher than a mere killing tool."

"But," H-Neun broke in, "The Council has different ideas about that. Welcome to the team… I guess."

Haruto glared at them. "I will not work with you."

"I assumed you would resist the idea," Soichi said, looking much like a father debating whether to indulge the whims of his child or not.

"Luckily I planned accordingly."

From his pocket, he produced a small remote. With the push of a button one of the many screens around them came to life. The three teenagers on the room found their gazes drawn to what was displayed there.

People. Men, women and children. Dozens of them, All locked behind bars and chained. A multitude of people with nothing but misery in their faces.

"You don't know these people," Soichi said, drawing the looks back to him. "They are not even from JIOR. Most of them are undesirables. Homeless people. Vagabonds. Petty thieves. Addicts. From a Darwinist perspective, society would be better without them."

Soichi paused, letting all the information sink in. Once the initial confusion narrowed into anger, he continued.

"They will be harvested for Runes," the doctor said.

"They will be killed!" Haruto snapped.

"Quite," Soichi said. "All of them will die… unless, someone could provide something more valuable than the Runes that could be gained by killing them."

Soichi Tokishima did not see the need to elaborate further. His son was smart enough to understand. The people were hostages. Haruto would do the bidding of the Council or else they would die.

It would be easy to walk away from an offer like that. The people were nameless faces. Not family. Not loved ones. There was no reason to for him to agree.

He could just let them die.

Tokishima Haruto would never forgive himself if he made such a choice.

"I will even throw in the young miss here," Soichi said, referring to Nao. "Unlike you, there is no reason to keep her alive."

Haruto fumed as Nao paled. His fist clenched tightly at his sides. His nails bit into his skin hard enough to almost draw blood.

Even if he had died. Even if this body was entirely new. Even if he was not entirely sure who he was anymore, Tokishima Haruto could not make that type of choice.

Human or Kamitsuki, it didn't matter. He would not give up and become a monster.

"What do you need me to do?" He said each word as if it was a curse.

"That's the spirit!" Soichi said. "For now, just step inside the machine."

As he said this, the large machine next to him opened up. In it, there was a seat surrounded by cables, needles, and tubes. However, what called Haruto's attention was the green glow he knew quite well by now.

"This machine can be used to inject Runes into other beings," his father said. "If you are going to be of use, it is necessary to keep you at 100%."

Haruto glared. "If I refuse, you will threaten them again, won't you?"

"If you understand that much there is no need for me to say more," Dr. Tokishima said.

The impotent rage in Haruto's eyes was almost frightening. He knew where those Runes came from. He remembered the Phantom.

These were Runes taken from innocent people. People had being killed in order to obtain them. The same fate awaited the hostages his father had threatened him with.

If he used them, he was taking advantage of the butchering of others.

If he did not use them, he would doom others to the same fate.

Soichi Tokishima and H-Neun made careful note of the crimson shining in Haruto's eyes.

With steps marked by anger, Haruto stepped into the machine and for the first time directly benefited from the sacrifice of another human being.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I should say right away this is not a Haruto/Nao fic. It could have been any female in that scene. I just wanted to hint at a few things there.
> 
> Plus, it's not a space vampire story without biting a beautiful female.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Valvrave.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"And that's what happened, more or less," Haruto told Nao.

The duo was talking in the base's cafeteria, or what passed for one, at any rate. There were seats and a machine that dispensed  _something_  that looked edible, at least. Haruto, used to eating Shoko's bizarre looking food, had taken a bite. The green color on his face afterwards had nothing to do with Runes. Wisely, Nao decided to wait until she really needed to eat.

In the meantime, Haruto had talked with Nao about a few things. About the Valvrave. About the Magius. About the Council.

About Kamitsuki.

Talking of it in plain sight may have seemed foolish, but it was not like there was a single place in the base devoid of cameras. They had checked. Besides, his father's presence here meant the Council knew most of it already.

Even then Haruto made certain to omit a few key details, which did not mean the things he told Nao were lies. Given her situation, he had no right to leave her in the dark. He told her the truth. As much as he could.

Nao was amazed.

How could she not be after what she heard? She had known a few things. She had suspected others after working for L-Elf. She had certainly theorized after watching Rukino Saki's "execution."

The real story from the lips of Tokishima Haruto surpassed her imagination.

"Incredible," she whispered, which prompted a sheepish smile from Haruto.

Haruto scratched the back of his head. "It wasn't much."

Nao looked at him.

Haruto looked away.

Humble as he was, even he could not say that with a straight face.

Mercifully, Nao decided not to push the issue. "As for me I was-"

"I know," Haruto said.

Nao blinked. She had not expected that, though it did make some sense.

She toyed with a strand of her hair. "L-Elf told you?"

She had piloted the Kagerou under L-Elf's command. The silver haired Dorssian had stressed the need for secrecy. They were to be the hidden knife, striking against the Module's enemies without fear of repercussions. Zero accountability. Zero glory.

However, Tokishima Haruto was not some random student. He and L-Elf were close.

_Really_  close, if certain rumors were to be believed.

As one of the more powerful men in the Module, it was not odd Haruto knew of her.

Haruto smiled. "L-Elf and I don't have secrets from each other," he said, enjoying the inside joke.

He did not expect Nao's blush nor did he dwell much on it.

It was for the best if she believed L-Elf told him. In this case, the truth was something he'd rather keep to himself.

He had seen her memories while he fed on her. With every kiss, with every lick, with every touch. Some of them were blurs; most of them, in fact. Others shone with striking clearness.

A small blush appeared on his cheeks. He knew exactly how Nao had reacted when she had her first period. He knew who had been her first crush, and he knew when she had first gotten in the Kagerou's cockpit. He did not dare tell her any of this. The invasion of privacy was just too much.

Feeding had never let him do something like that. He had never seen L-Elf's memories no matter how many times he had fed on him. He had too many questions and not enough answers.

It pained him his only source of information happened to be his father. The less he had to do with that man the better.

"Well, hello! How are my two favorite people this morning?"

The cheerful voice cut through Haruto's dark thoughts and Nao's fantasizing. The two looked up to see a familiar Dorssian youth walking up to them.

Nao's glare could have melted steel. "You!" she hissed out with vehemence that would have frightened lesser men.

H-Neun was not a lesser man. He waved.

Nao seethed.

Ever the peacemaker, Haruto quickly got in between them. "Good morning," he said to H-Neun.

Was it? Come to think of it, there were no windows or clocks around to check.

"What brings you here?" Haruto asked.

And how soon can you leave before something bad happens. Haruto was too kind to say it out loud, but they both heard it just fine.

He did not really have anything against H-Neun. His interaction with him could barely be called that. He had seen him in his father's lab and he knew he had some role in bringing him back to life.

He also had a hand in kidnapping Nao, something which Nao was far away from forgetting. If Haruto were not more concerned about not causing a scene in the middle of an enemy base, he would probably feel angry at the man too.

"Believe it or not, I just want to talk," H-Neun said, sitting at their table and proving that being an exceptionally good soldier did not give you social skills.

The looks on Haruto's and Nao's faces must have shown what they thought of his words, because H-Neun raised both hands up and hurried to explain.

"I am serious," he said. "Do you have any idea just how boring this place is? I'm as much of a prisoner as you are. Worse even, because I had no one to talk to."

He waved a hand around to show the soldiers in the cafeteria.

"All these soldiers? They are brain-dead cult members or something. I knew a stoic guy once, but they make him look like Mister Personality. Before you guys got here, the only person I could talk to was the doctor and that guy is creepy."

Haruto instantly felt a wave of empathy for the guy in front of him.

"So please," H-Neun said, slapping his hands together as if praying. "Let's hang out."

Nao was, by nature, a calm person. She rarely let her emotions get the best of her.

"Are you  _out of your mind_!"

She had limits.

"You are the reason I am here! You kidnapped me! You tied me up! You threatened to shoot me!"

Her skin was flushed with rage. Her breathing was heavy. Her glare was striking. Most people would have been torn between being intimidated by her anger or attracted to her beauty.

H-Neun was not one of those. He was only interested in one woman and that woman was way scarier than this girl.

"Oh, come on," He said. "There is no use holding grudges here. How about we let bygones be bygones?"

A strangled sound came out of the back of Nao's throat as she trembled with rage. Haruto was seriously debating whether to physically hold her back, because this was not going to end in anything good.

"Bygones?" She repeated.

The unmitigated gall!

He dared to act as if she was being the unreasonable one!

"Yeah, bygones," H-Neun said, either not noticing or not caring about Nao's anger. "We are stuck in the same boat and I am pretty sure we could all use a helping hand right now, especially you."

"That guy," he said, pointing at Haruto. "Is a pilot and some sort of space vampire. I'm a really,  _really_  good soldier. You are just a regular girl. You need people in your corner right now."

A regular girl?

No!

Not again.

Never again.

She wanted nothing to do with that type of life anymore. She wanted something else. She wanted something greater.

A meaningless life was just like a slow death.

Nao slammed her hands against the table.

"I am NOT a regular girl," Nao hissed. "I am a Kagerou Pilot!"

The words were shouted before Haruto could stop her.

He and H-Neun both winced.

"Oh boy, I am going to really feel bad right now," H-Neun said. Haruto just slapped his forehead, while contemplating throwing something at the Dorssian, preferably the horrible food.

Nao just looked confusion at the sudden reaction from both boys.

She did not need to ask. The answer came to her before she had to.

"I am so pleased to know that," the voice of Tokishima Soichi boomed through the speakers. "This will work even better than planned. Good job, H-Neun."

Haruto swore under his breath.

Nao looked at H-Neun's apologetic face.

She punched him.

H-Neun could have dodged, but he didn't.

Let it never be said, he did not try to be a gentleman.

xXx

A meteor had crashed into the module.

That was the story they had decided to tell the other students.

It was not an easy choice to make and it was not one the majority were comfortable with. However, spreading the knowledge of how easily an enemy had snuck in, kidnapped one of their own, and broken the Module's dome would not go over well with the population.

They were scared enough as it was. There was no need to further shake their faith in the new government.

Saki sighed while walking through the halls. She could not say she was entirely pleased with the decision. Keeping secrets was one thing, but covering up the kidnapping bothered her on several levels.

However, she could not argue with L-Elf's logic.

The bastard.

If it was just the kidnapping she would have been able to fight it. The rest would not have stood for it. Most of them at least.

The problem was another.

An intruder.

A traitor.

A Magius.

At least one person in the Module had helped H-Neun during his attack. A possibility was the mysterious second person had come and left with H-Neun.

What if that wasn't the case?

What if that other person had stayed? What if that person had been here all along? Among the students?

What if one of the students had been taken over by a Magius at one point? They certainly had plenty of opportunities for that. The Council had managed to kidnap all their scientists and strap them in the Phantom without them noticing until they saw it on a live broadcast.

Or maybe they had to go back all the way to the first Dorssian attack?

Surprisingly, Satomi had suggested a test to locate Magius among the population, and just as surprising was that L-Elf turned down the suggestion.

Saki snorted when he remembered his reasons.

The students did not hold the level of trust in the government required for such measures. Of course that had not stopped him from making everyone on the room go through an impromptu test.

Was there really any need to make Akira and her go through it? Everyone already knew they were immortal.

In any case, they had found no hidden Magius among them, which left nearly a hundred students to go.

Peachy.

If they released all the information the students would be wary of each other and the traitor alert. A traitor on his guard was potentially dangerous. Who knew what a Magius could do if he thought they had found him? It was better for the intruder to think he was safe.

The chance to lure him out would come.

Besides, they did not need another round of paranoia among the students. Saki had not been present for the first one, but she had seen the end product and heard the stories. After the final battle, L-Elf had not spared her a single detail, likely to get her on his side regarding some of the harsher decisions he had made regarding the students.

Saki knew when someone was trying to manipulate her.

She wouldn't have believed him had she not confirmed the truth with the others first. ARUS being self-serving bastards? She needed no proof to believe that. They had shown what they were worth early on.

But the students? The people they had protected time and time again?

People really couldn't be trusted.

Being proven right was somewhat saddening.

To think even Shoko had…

Saki's face twisted into something ugly.

Shoko.

The name alone was enough to send a wave of anger through her.

Saki had liked Shoko.

Things would have been so much easier if she hadn't. From the very first moment, she had wanted to hate her. The reason was a simple one.

Rukino Saki liked Tokishima Haruto.

Tokishima Haruto only had eyes for his childhood friend.

It was frustrating.

Saki was used to the spotlight. She loved the spotlight. Every moment the light shined on her was a moment she did not have to be with… those people. Even after she had "retired," people's eyes were still on her. Boys were not an exception. She had seen everything, from openly lustful gazes to bashful glances.

When Shoko was around Haruto did not look at her. The two went off in their own little world, leaving her all alone.

She hated it.

She also knew a losing battle when she saw one. She may be famous. She may be talented. She may be objectively (in her unbiased opinion) better looking. It didn't matter.

She should have hated Shoko. She should have hated the one who had the full attention of the only eyes that mattered to her. She had his kindness and his warmth and she didn't even notice!

She should have hated Shoko. She should have been cruel to her.

She couldn't.

She was jealous. Of that there was no doubt. She had been bitter too. However, she could not hate Shoko.

Shoko was nice.

Shoko was just that type of person. She would help you out if you were in trouble without a second thought. She was a light of optimism when things were at their darkest. She was a kind, sweet girl. Maybe not the smartest, but certainly pure in her intentions and honest in her actions.

Against her wishes, Shoko had grown on her. For some reason or another, Saki liked Shoko.

Shoko was completely different from her. She wasn't bitter. She wasn't cynical. She did not have a lifetime of negative experiences weighing her down.

Shoko was certainly not the type of person who would be happy when hearing the object of her affection was slowly losing his memories one by one, because it would mean she had a chance, small as it might be, of leveling the playing field.

At least, that had been what Saki thought.

When L-Elf had told her the truth, she couldn't believe it. She had known something had happened between Haruto and Shoko, but she had severely underestimated the magnitude.

That bitch!

Saki could not blame Shoko if she ended up having a fairy tale romance with Haruto. Saki would be angry and she would be bitter, but she would not take it out on Shoko. However, to betray them like that? To betray Haruto? She had his attention! She had his love!

Saki would do anything for those, yet Shoko had dared to throw them away like trash!

Shoko had hurt Haruto.

Saying Saki was angry at Shoko was like saying the ocean was wet.

She was so angry, she had been purposely avoiding Shoko ever since she had set foot on the Module. She was not sure what she would do to the former Prime Minister if she had her in reach. Combined with Haruto's stolen body, this had left Saki in a rather irritable mood. Sensing this, the students had given her wide berth as she walked by.

She was a popular idol.

She was also an immortal, regenerating space vampire who piloted a giant robot and played a large part in keeping everyone alive.

Once upon a time the students may have been stupid enough to turn against the Valvrave pilots, but that was not going to happen again anytime soon.

No one wanted to be the idiot who made a Valvrave pilot angry at them.

It may not have been the respect and awe they used to hold for them, but fear would work just fine for now.

Saki sighed. That seemed to be the theme of her life right now. Settling. Never really getting what she truly wanted.

She was so busy with her thoughts she did not notice the student coming as she made a right in one of the hallways.

Saki managed to steady herself by putting a hand on the wall. The other student was not so lucky and fell to the floor. "Sorry," Saki said, "I wasn't looking and...You!"

The student was in a similar state. Her green eyes were wide with shock. "Saki!"

Saki pursued her lips. "Shoko."

It looked she was going to have this confrontation a lot sooner than she thought.

xXx

At the same time, there was a different type of problem brewing on another part of the Module.

"It is not fast enough." L-Elf said, while staring at a screen showing the outside of the Module.

The words were delivered tonelessly. It would take a really keen observer to detect the impatient undertone in L-Elf's voice.

Kibukawa was a good observer.

"The Kirschbaums should arrive in a few days and speed up the process," he replied, while lighting up one of his cigarettes. The broken Dome had put a damper on the efforts to move the students to the upper city. Clean-up duty had to be temporarily stopped and efforts were now focused on repairing the Dome.

A task that would be made easier if only they had more than two functioning Valvraves. A-Drei's Kirshbaum was helping things along, but his machine could not handle the finer jobs of repair as well as a Valvrave could.

Progress was slow.

"Unacceptable," L-Elf replied. "Our forces are exposed enough as it is. The Module's state leave us vulnerable."

They could not keep the students down for long. While it made them easier to monitor, they would soon become restless. It was only the shock and wounds suffered during the attack that had kept them relatively docile for now.

"Nevertheless, there is not much we can do right now," Kibukawa said dryly. "Unless you wish to put our people in space suits and make them do it by hand."

L-Elf almost considered the idea for three seconds before discarding it.

It would not be efficient enough.

If he had the Kirchbaums right now, repairs could be finished within 24 hours and clean-up duty could be completed in another 7. He could have the students moved in two more.

As it was, he was looking a full week of work.

Wasteful.

"What is the state of the other Valvraves?" L-Elf asked without taking his eyes of the screen showing Akira and A-Drei handling the repairs, as if his mere gaze could will them to speed up.

"Somewhere between wrecked and not working," Kibukawa replied. "The same way they were when you asked three hours ago."

L-Elf's glare had made grown men pee themselves in the past, but Kibukawa was not new to dealing with teenagers. The principles were the same, even if this one was a hyper-competent super soldier trained from childhood.

It brought a measure of comfort to Kibukawa when dealing with L-Elf, albeit a small one.

"Very well," L-Elf said, after a tense silence. "There is no choice but to continue at this pace until the Kirschbaums arrive. Have the machines ready for the pilot selection tests."

Kibukawa ran a hand through his hair. "That will not be a problem. It is the student's health that will take longer to be ready."

He knew L-Elf was not glad to hear it and he knew the silver haired youth was already aware of it. However, someone needed to remind him of the bad news or else the boy would get ahead of himself. L-Elf's moodiness had been more than obvious to him these past days.

Someone needed to keep him from making rash choices.

"And I do not think I need to remind you of this, but you piloting a Kirschbaum is completely out of the question," Kibukawa added, steeling himself for an argument.

He was not disappointed. The full might of L-Elf's arctic glare bore down upon him.

"I was not aware I had left you in charge of such decisions," L-Elf said in a deceptively calm voice.

"No," Kibukawa said. "You have not. The final decision is up to you."

There was really no one better to judge pilot aptitude. Kibukawa may have been a soldier, but he was not a pilot.

"I merely remind you of the poor strategic value of placing you in a cockpit," Kibukawa added, staring unflinchingly into L-Elf's eyes.

"Enlighten me," L-Elf said, with a hint of sarcasm. "I am the best pilot on the Module. No one could draw out the full power of the Kirchbaum better than I; so why should I not pilot one?"

Let it never be said L-Elf bothered with false modesty. Despite how it sounded, not one word he had spoken was false.

What stood before Kibukawa was Cain's greatest creation. A boy made for war. A soldier without peer.

It was sad. However, pity was not needed right now.

"True. Your worth as a pilot is high, yet it pales when compared to your worth as a commander," he said, blowing smoke.

"Right now, the Module is only standing because of you."

The students had grown. As he was right now, Satomi would be able to organize the students and keep the Module running. Backed by the pilots and others, they would be able to keep a stable government.

However, that was the extent of their abilities.

"Strategic planning. Projections. Military organization. Potential targets. Potential enemies. Under regular circumstances the students could handle things, but these are not regular circumstances. We are weak and we have too many enemies. The only one who has the ability to guide us through this situation is you!"

L-Elf glared at the man but was unable to deny his words.

"Should we lose you the Module will follow. You are no longer just a soldier. You are a commander, our commander," Kibukawa said. "You cannot charge into the battlefield like a common soldier. Surely, you are aware of this."

The look L-Elf shot him made Kibukawa think the youth was a second away from attacking him. Thankfully, the teenager clenched his fists and turned away.

"I will be in the hangar. We need to recheck our supplies," he said, before walking away.

Only when L-Elf had left and closed the door behind him, did Kibukawa allow himself to fall against his seat. The teacher took a long drag from his cigarette while looking at the ceiling.

That had been nerve-wracking in several ways.

Kibukawa never would have thought he'd ever miss dealing with normal teenagers.

xXx

Kitagawa Iori would rather deal with anything other than this.

It was not that she minded helping the wounded students. If anything, she found it soothing. For the past days, she had dedicated herself to it. She had cleaned wounds and replaced bandages. She had volunteered to go into the labs to scavenge for more clinical supplies.

The more she had to do the less time she had to think.

The looks, however, she could not get away from.

Iori was what would commonly be called a good girl.

She had been a good girl since she was a kid. She had always listened to her parents even if the other kids made fun of her. At school, she had never once turned in an assignment late. She was not gifted, but she was studious and her grades reflected that.

Her classmates usually chose her for class representative. During group projects, her partners had often slacked off, confident she would not allow herself to turn in an inadequate assignment. They were right.

When she found trash on the sidewalk, she carried it to the nearest garbage can.

She had few friends and preferred to stay at home reading than going out.

She was cute in her own way, but not as beautiful as some of the other girls in school like Rukino Saki or Ohta Nao.

Silent, intelligent, diligent Iori. That was her. Iori of the Student Council. Iori who had a crush on the Student Council President that everyone but him could see.

Iori who had been on the verge of leading a rebellion against the Prime Minister and had shot a person right in the heart.

Not a person. A monster. They were monsters.

Monsters who had killed her father.

She had to do it. Shoko had to see it. She was too blind and someone needed to show her the truth.

They were monsters. They had to understand! They had killed…

"… _but I did not see Haruto kill your father, Iori."_

Remembering Minori's words was enough to almost lose her footing and she came dangerously close to spilling the bandages she was carrying over the floor. Only the timely intervention of another student saved her from a meeting with the ground.

"Thank you. I drifted away for a... second…" As Iori looked up, her voice trailed off. The identity of her rescuer was now clear. She should have known.

The breasts were a dead giveaway even without seeing her face.

"Takahi," Iori said.

"Iori," the blonde replied in same toneless voice.

Blonde, big breasted, gifted with a metabolism Iori could not help but envy, and entirely too close to her crush for comfort. Takahi was not Iori's favorite person under normal circumstances.

Right now, she'd rather deal with the looks and whispering than with her.

"We need to talk," Takahi said. Her tone made it clear it was not a suggestion.

"I have to deliver these right now," she said, gesturing to the medical supplies she was carrying.

To this, Takahi yanked the supplies out of her hands and foisted them off to the closest student. "Deliver those," she said like a queen ordering her subject. "Don't waste time."

The boy listened to her. Iori's eyebrow twitched.

Why did people never listen to her like that?

"Now we can talk," Takahi said, walking away without even bothering to look behind. To her great annoyance, Iori found herself wordlessly following Takahi into the nearest empty room.

"I have been putting this off so far, but delaying this conversation further would do no good to either of us," Takahi said, expertly flipping her hair over her shoulder.

It did not matter if Takahi had been working all day, probably had not bathed in more than that, and had no make-up on. She still managed to look great.

Iori hated her.

"What do you wish to talk about?" Iori said. It was a meaningless question and both knew it. There was only one topic they could cover right now, but Iori would be damned if she made it easy for Takahi. She was the last person Iori wanted to have this conversation with.

Why couldn't it be the President?

Why couldn't it be Satomi?

"Oh, I think we both know," Takahi said, raising an elegant eyebrow.

Iori bristled. There! That was the same patronizing look! Always showing up at the Student Council Room and acting like she owned the place.

Iori could not stand this woman.

"I have nothing to discuss with you," Iori said, straightening her shoulders. That's right. She had nothing to discuss with Takahi. There were people who had a right to talk to her about this, but she was certainly not doing it with  _her_.

She moved to exit the room.

"Don't even think about it! If it is not with me, next time it will be L-Elf you're having this talk with," Takahi warned her, while also making sure she blocked Iori's way to the door.

Iori paled at the mention of the Dorssian youth.

She was not too proud to deny she found L-Elf scary. He may be the same age as them, but the difference in their upbringing had shown itself multiple times.

L-Elf was profoundly scary.

Even the students who had thrown themselves into the war after losing family and friends could not hope to match the cold intensity L-Elf wore like a cloak.

Iori did not look forward to being questioned by him of all people.

On the other hand the alternative was… Takahi.

"Alright," Iori said, forcing the words out. "Let's talk."

Takahi smiled. It was not a nice smile by any stretch of imagination.

"You know, I never thought you had it in you to do something like that," Takahi said. "I guess it is always the quiet ones."

Iori frowned. So it was going to be like this.

"Satomi could not believe it when he heard about it," Takahi said, twisting the knife. She enjoyed the stricken look on the brunette's face more than she cared to admit. "He could not believe his shy, little vice-president could have done such things."

Takahi leaned in closer.

"After all, you shot Tokishima."

Iori flinched.

"You took your own Prime Minster hostage and nearly started a coup. People usually go to jail for things like that," the blonde girl said conversationally.

"Is that what is going to happen to me?" Iori asked, somehow managing to keep her voice even.

"We do not have a jail yet," Takahi said, indicating the possibility was not fully out of the question. "However, believe it or not, I am not here to dish out punishment. I only wish to know how you feel about your actions."

Iori looked at her.

"Is this a joke?"

"Hardly, I did not come here to waste my time," Takahi said. "The sooner you answer the sooner we can both get on with our duties. For your sake, I recommend an honest answer."

"How would you know I am telling the truth?" Iori countered. "Do you trust me that much?"

"Of course not."

"Then?"

Takahi raised an eyebrow in a way that really got on Iori's nerves.

"You're a horrible liar."

That answer she did not expect.

"What?"

"You. Can't. Lie," Takahi repeated. "Kitagawa, some people can lie, and others are hopelessly honest idiots. You are in the latter group."

Iori flushed, not sure which part of the statement to object to.

"Now if we are done with the useless questions, I ask you again, how do you feel about what you did?"

For a moment, Iori considered slapping the blonde girl on the face and walking away. She did not. Partially because of the threat of L-Elf looming over her, but also because she was scared Takahi would end up winning the fight between the two.

Some shames she'd rather avoid.

Plus, if she had to be really honest, she really wanted to talk about it with someone.

"How do I feel?" Iori said, the words coming out with bitterness neither girl had known she possessed. "How do you think I feel? I feel horrible! I never meant for things to get so out of control. I was just... angry."

Takahi's expression softened by a fraction. "Because of your father?" She prompted.

"I saw him die," Iori said. Just remembering that scene made her want to curl into a ball and cry.

It was not fair. She had just been reunited with him. She had been happy! She was even considering introducing Satomi to her father.

Then she saw his life drained out on live television.

Angry and sad did not even begin to cover what she felt. She wanted to cry. She wanted to cry and never stop. She wanted someone to tell her it was all going to be okay.

Damn it! She was not going to cry. Not in front of Takahi, of all people!

Takahi's hands twitched. Almost as if she wanted to reach out to the girl in front of her and hold her. She did not.

"What about the pilots?" Takahi asked instead.

"I… don't know," Iori said and it was the truth. It had been so easy to blame someone in the heat of the moment, but what did she have now?

Minori's words still echoed in her mind.

Monsters… whatever they were, she did not have any proof of them killing her father.

Without the haze of anger and hurt, she could not reconcile the image of the Valvrave pilots with people who would betray the Module, who would kill her family.

Dorssia, on the other hand…

The Chancellor had been one of those things.

"I don't know," she repeated. "It's just confusing. I still don't understand what happened."

"Believe it or not, I share the feeling," Takahi said. While she was more "in the know," there were still many things she struggled to make sense of.

"That doesn't really help," Iori said.

"It wasn't meant to," Takahi said. "Last question, do you plan to do it again?"

Iori looked at Takahi like she was crazy. "Of course not. I am never doing something like that again. I wouldn't even know where to begin. No! I want nothing to do with that type of thing again."

Takahi evaluated Iori for a moment. The girl probably did not notice it, but her honest, straightforward expression had not wavered.

She was still the same foolish girl whose crush on Satomi was a secret only to that clueless male.

Her answers were not perfect, but they would have to do for now.

"Very well," Takahi said. "That will be enough for now."

She was about to turn and leave when Iori grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"Hold it," the girl said. Her eyes shined with tears she kept in only through force of will. "You don't get to interrogate me like that without at least telling me why."

Takahi looked at Iori for a moment before sighing. "You started a rebellion. That is reason enough."

For a moment she contemplated telling her nothing.

She decided against it.

Iori was far from her favorite person, but she deserved to know the truth, at least. It may be just L-Elf's hunch, but Takahi had learned the hard way L-Elf "hunches" had an annoying tendency to come true.

"Tell me something, Kitagawa. Do you think everyone is happy right now?" Takahi asked. Without waiting for an answer she went on.

"I am not. People have died. I have been working non-stop. I have been wearing the same clothes for days now and don't get me started about finding a proper bath. The same can be said for the other students. We have survived but that is all."

Survived.

The word was almost kind, given the state of the Module.

"Right now the students are too focused on their losses, but that will not last. If discontent among the students is allowed to fester, some will naturally seek to rebel."

"And what does that have to do with me?" The girl demanded.

"If the students want to rebel just who do you think they will look to for leadership?" Takahi asked, silencing the girl.

It was Iori who was part of the old government.

It was Iori who had been the most vocal out of all the students in her hatred for the pilots.

It was Iori who shot Tokishima Haruto.

Shoko was a possibility but everyone could tell the girl was not in the best state at the moment. Haruto's death had hit her hard. Her cheer was gone. Nowadays, she was only going through the motions.

For someone looking for a leader in a rebellion, Iori was the natural choice.

"But I wouldn't…"

"I believe you," Takahi said, surprising her. "But that will not change how others see you. L-Elf is positive you will be the one people seek in the event of a rebellion."

"So… what am I supposed to do?" Iori asked, looking lost.

"Nothing. Just do as you have been doing. If someone approaches you, contact us. That's all you need to do."

Iori looked at Takahi, comprehension dawning. "You… you are just using me as bait…"

Takahi turned away. "We all have to do our part to protect the Module. We cannot let this fragile peace break so easily."

Takahi opened the door and closed it behind her, leaving Iori alone. Those words had left a bitter taste in her mouth, yet Takahi had no intentions of taking them back.

Both Takahi and Iori realized it the moment she said it.

It was never going to be the same anymore.

xXx

Shoko was not having a good couple of days.

Her goal of trying to make things right with Haruto had been brutally snuffed out with the news of his death.

Once the other students had settled into the Module, she had allowed herself to cry and cry. The redness in her eyes was a testament to that.

She had tried to see his body only to be met by several walls. The only members of the student government who were easy to encounter were Yusuke and Takahi and they were both too busy helping out the students.

Under other circumstances Shoko would have found their efforts admirable. She would have smiled and been right alongside them.

Shoko had barely helped out the other students since arriving at the Module.

Her duty was done. She was not the Prime Minister anymore. She had lost her position. She had lost friends, if her talk with Akira was any indication. She had lost the man she loved. She had nothing left.

Even if it was selfish, right now she just wanted to say goodbye.

She had searched for the one person she was sure would know where Haruto's body was.

L-Elf.

She might as well have been chasing a ghost. She had not once crossed paths with L-Elf. She had seen Kibukawa-sensei. She had met Satomi. Neither of them knew where Haruto's body was, but she had at least managed to find them. Not L-Elf though.

She would always be a few minutes too late. She always just missed him. It was as if he was deliberately avoiding her. Shoko would not be surprised if that was the case.

She deserved it.

It did not mean she was going to stop. If L-Elf wanted to play hide and seek then fine. She had always been a great hide and seek player.

Granted, she had yet to catch L-Elf but she was working on it.

She had been walking back to her room after yet another false lead when she bumped into her and fell to the floor.

The number one person she did not want to see.

"Saki!" She cried out as her green eyes went wide. Her only comfort was that Saki looked every bit as shocked as she was.

"Shoko," the girl breathed out and Shoko had to fight the urge to flinch.

After her talk with Akira, she had not looked forward to talking with the other Valvrave pilot. Even if Saki had not been there, Shoko had betrayed them and called them monsters. The other girl had every right to hate her.

That was not the only reason Shoko had for deliberately avoiding Saki.

It was silly, perhaps even stupid, but Shoko could not stop the nagging feeling.

Sashinami Shoko was scared of Rukino Saki.

It was not fear of retribution. If Saki wanted to punch her, Shoko would welcome it. She deserved that and more. Shoko was not afraid of retribution.

Shoko was afraid of uncertainty.

"Shoko," Saki repeated. The former idol walked to her and offered her hand while smiling with such warmness Shoko could only believe it false.

Saki's acting skills were flawless, but Shoko firmly believed she did not deserve such an expression. If it was directed at her, it could only be fake.

Nevertheless, she took Saki's hand.

"It is so good to see you," Saki said, with that same smile on her face. "I am sorry I did not look for you the moment you arrived at the Module, but L-Elf has us pilots running around all day."

That one was a complete lie. Saki's and Akira's schedules, minus recent Module repair duties, were quite relaxed. Shoko did not need to know that though.

"Eh? No, it is okay. You don't have to apologize for that," Shoko said, more than little put off by Saki's behavior.

"Of course it is not okay," Saki said in a voice that would brook no arguments. "I should have made some time to see you. We are friends."

Friends?

Shoko almost took a step back.

Was this for real? Had no one told her? Did she not know her crimes?

"Have you been eating well," Saki asked as her violet eyes carefully inspected her. "When was the last time you slept? You look awfully pale."

Saki leaned closer and took a careful whiff.

"Actually, when was the last time you took a bath?" She asked, making Shoko blush.

"I… well…" Shoko trailed off, for once at loss of what to say. She really did not want to answer those questions. Especially the last one.

It was too embarrassing.

"Sorry," Saki said, backing away. "That was tactless of me. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It has just been a long time since I just talked with someone."

That was also a lie.

"N-no, it's okay," Shoko said. "It has been… it has been a long time for me too."

"It is good we met then," Saki said. Her smile was so bright Shoko was starting to believe in it. "Looks like we could both use a friendly chat, especially after…"

Saki trailed off as real sorrow appeared on her face. She did not finish that statement but she really didn't need to. Both of them understood.

_Especially after Haruto died._

"I…. I would like that," Shoko dared to say.

"I imagine so," Saki said with an understanding look. "You two did not really part on the best terms."

Shoko froze.

Saki's smile was still in place. Her warm tone had not changed.

So why was it suddenly so cold?

Why had those words felt so hateful?

"I would feel absolutely terrible in your place," Saki went on with the same look on her face. Her voice still lacked even a hint of viciousness. "I would not be able to bear the guilt. I would not be able to bear the thought of what Haruto may have thought of me during his… last moments."

Shoko recoiled back as if struck.

Haruto! What had he thought of her? Had he… had he hated her? No. He wouldn't! Not him. Not Haruto.

But…

"I mean, Haruto would never hate anyone," Saki said, raising an elegant finger. "Still, you have to wonder. What you did was a pretty big blow to him. You should have seen him."

Saki's words were like knives. Shoko genuinely wanted to run away from her, yet she stayed. Perhaps, because she felt rooted to the spot. Perhaps, out of a masochistic belief that she deserved this.

Saki did not particularly care which one it was. She was far from done.

"Of course, he may just not have remembered,"

Shoko looked up. "What?"

"Towards the end, Haruto was losing his memories as a result of piloting," Saki explained, with downcast eyes. "Haruto's Valvrave was more demanding than the others. In order to power it up, Haruto gave up everything. His memories. His life. Everything. All to save us."

Shoko took a trembling step back.

Was that why… Her mouth moved but she could not get the words out. Tears fell from her eyes.

Was that why he had not remembered the promise?

He had given everything for them and she had…

Monster.

She was the monster.

The sorrow so clearly painted on her face would have stopped gentler souls.

Saki wanted to twist the knife more.

"I wonder, did he end up telling you about us?" The girl asked.

"What?" Shoko asked, cold dread settling in her stomach.

"Us," Saki repeated. "Haruto and I. We were dating. Didn't he ever tell you?"

It was another lie.

It was a lie mixed among so many truths and doubts, Shoko could not fight it. She could only accept it as her heart cracked into pieces.

She could only accept it as truth, because she had feared it all along.

"He was a good kisser, you know?" Saki said. Her voice innocent as if she did not know how much she hurt Shoko with those simple words.

Shoko was not clueless.

Shoko had noticed something had happened between her best friend and Saki. There had been hints. Small ones piling up over time.

Ever since Haruto first got in the Valvrave.

Shoko had noticed her when Haruto started to spend more time with Saki. She had not missed the way Saki had confronted her after her pictures with Haruto had been posted on his Wired account. She had not missed Haruto's weirdly specific denials.

She had noticed Haruto and Saki were nowhere to be found during the election night.

She had noticed Haruto and Saki were both absent at the same time for the first cabinet meeting.

It had been something she could ignore at first, but at some point it was just too much. The fear had taken root in her.

It was the simple reality that her Haruto may not be her Haruto anymore.

She had tried to deny it. She had tried to flee from that possibility. That was why she had tried to avoid Saki after returning to the Module.

Saki's words had crushed the last of that fleeting resistance.

"He even asked me to marry him," Saki said, going in for the kill. "You would have been invited to the ceremony, of course."

The smile that appeared on Saki's face as she saw Shoko's trembling form did not have a speck of kindness in it.

Was it petty of her? Was it cruel of her?

Of course it was, and Saki knew it.

She was just too angry with Shoko to care. If she could make Shoko experience even a fraction of the pain Haruto felt, then she would call it a job well done.

Tears fell from Shoko's eyes as her body trembled. Her hair hid her eyes from view. Saki was not sure if she would run away or attack her.

To be honest, she would welcome either one.

She never expected for Shoko's arms to envelop her in a hug.

"W-what are you doing?" She sputtered.

"You loved him too!" Shoko shouted him, silencing Saki for the first time in that conversation.

"What?"

"I miss him! I miss him a lot! I loved him and I wish I could take it all back. And I feel terrible about it. But you loved him too! And you were happy! You hadn't screwed everything up like I did! You were happy! You were both happy! And now he's gone and that's sad and it makes me sad and you must be sad too and… and…"

Shoko's avalanche of words petered out as words were replaced by sobs.

Saki was speechless for completely different reasons.

Even like that.

Even after all she said to her.

She found it in her to care about her instead?

"You idiot," Saki said without any heat in her voice.

This was why.

This part of her was why Saki could never really bring herself to hate Shoko.

Saki's arms hugged Shoko back as her own tears began to fall.

Two crying girls sought solace for a pain only they could understand.

xXx

Far away, the object of the two girls' affection had problems of his own.

After Nao's declaration, the girl had been escorted to his father's laboratory. Haruto had demanded to be brought along, which proved much easier than expected.

The guards followed orders and did little else. They had not been ordered to keep him out of the lab so they did not. H-Neun took the time to explain a little about them while they walked to the lab, which only added to Haruto's unease.

Talking with his father proved a much harder task. He explained, of course. All smiles and joy and laughter.

It was hard to believe he had once looked forward to hearing that sound.

Haruto had liked his father. He enjoyed the few moments they were able to spend together. The man was always so full of life. He admired it.

Now, he just hated it. He wanted nothing more than to hurt the man as he explained the device he planned to put on Nao.

A Rune Absorber.

It would drain her body of Runes and ensure she was dependent on Rune Injections from this facility. H-Neun had done him the favor of showing him the one implanted on his back and Haruto felt a surge of sympathy for the Dorssian upon realizing they really were on the same boat.

It was a small thing. It looked like a dull, green gem encrusted on his skin. A harmless, if odd-looking thing.

Haruto knew better.

He could recognize the feeling it gave off. It vaguely reminded him of the markings placed on Lieselotte. The thought of such a thing implanted on Nao galled him more than words could express.

He understood why it was happening. Nao had revealed her identity as a pilot. His father had built the Valvraves. He must have known of the Kagerous as well. Possibly even helped build them. Nao was no longer just a hostage.

She was an asset and the Rune Absorber was her leash.

To his utter shame, there was nothing he could do. He had no leverage. He nothing to bargain with and violence would only go so far in a military base filled with enemy soldiers.

He may be immortal, but she was not.

In the end, Nao had agreed to it. He could only watch as the procedure happened. It had been quick. Painless. The implanting of the device had been completely underwhelming when compared to its purpose. Nao had barely flinched.

It was a good thing. Not just for Nao but for him as well. Had the girl screamed, Haruto was not certain he would have been able to stand by.

Tokishima Haruto was not a stranger to hate.

Dorssia had taught him that particular lesson the dreadful night in which he had given up on his humanity.

However, he had never known it in such a personal way.

Tokishima Haruto hated Tokishima Soichi. He hated the man who created the Valvraves. He hated the madman who could take glee in treating others like science projects and could so casually disregard human life.

He wanted to kill him.

The realization was like a bucket of cold water and Haruto was forced to look away from the man as he felt the last vestiges of filial love snuffed out.

"Well, now that we have settled that little matter," Soichi began as if he had not just implanted a potentially deadly device on a young girl's back. "I am pleased to inform you, we have received our first mission!"

The three youths shared a look.

H-Neun voiced everyone's thoughts. "You're joking."

"Not at all," Soichi said, slapping his hands together. "In fact the timing could not be better. I have gained a new pilot. You are all conveniently here and the instructions arrived but an hour ago. I daresay I am a lucky man."

H-Neun grimaced. Did that mean he had known about the girl? Had he just been waiting until she revealed her identity and used that to drag them to the lab and gain a new pilot. No, that did not make sense. Though technically a prisoner, Soichi Tokishima was in charge. The man did not need overly complicated excuses and there was no way he could have known.

He was just an extremely infuriating man.

Haruto was infuriated.

"Absolutely not!" Haruto slammed his hand against one of the walls.

H-Neun's eyes widened ever so slightly as Haruto's fist caused a small, but noticeable dent in the material.

Had the guy's eyes just glowed?

Tokishima Soichi just smiled.

"That was not part of the deal," Haruto said. "I am the one you need working for you. Leave her out of it. You already put that… that thing in her!"

"For the purposes of sending her outside," Soichi said. "You are more than smart enough to have realized that, my son. Besides, the decision is not yours. Rather it belongs exclusively to the young Miss. Just as you chose to let yourself be bound to the Council and to me so she must choose."

The phrasing was deliberate on his part and Soichi knew his son understood the message. If his son wanted to escape, he could escape. He had not even put a Rune Absorber on him. The only things keeping him a prisoner and a tool were those pesky morals he so valued.

Oh well, he would learn in time.

Soichi looked forward to it.

"Now, young miss," Soichi said. "What would you choose? Will you stay here and be safe, waiting to be rescued and let these two young men go into increasingly life-threatening situations and likely die due to the lack of backup? Or perhaps you will choose to use your own power and help the only reason why you have not been disposed of yet?"

It was entirely too blatant to be called manipulation.

Subtlety had its time and place, but Soichi had never been a fan of it.

"You are a horrible person," Nao said.

"So I have been told," Soichi replied, unconcerned. "I prefer to consider myself a practical man. Judging from your tone, I assume your answer is yes, then?"

Nao clenched her fists. "Yes," she said, nearly spitting out the word.

Haruto turned to her. "Ohta-san, don't!"

Nao smiled sadly. "I have to, Tokishima. I am a pilot and I am not going to stay here if there is a way I could help you out there."

It was the plain and simple truth of the matter.

Just existing without doing anything at all. She did not want to go back to that type of life. Not again. She could not let Haruto take everything on his own. If there was something for her to do, she would do it.

Had Professor Tokishima not strong-armed her into this, she would have probably demanded to be allowed to help.

As someone who had seen her most important memories, Haruto was all too aware of that. She had decided to fight for her own reasons just as he had. As much as he did not want her to put herself in danger, the final choice was not his.

He really hated it when his father was right.

"Alright then, that's settled," Soichi said, with a small grin. "Let's being the briefing! How exciting! I have never directed a military operation before."

That did not make anyone feel better and H-Neun resolved to go over the plan with the doctor as many times as possible. Just as he had with the infiltration of the Module.

Out loud he asked, "Am I going to have to fly a Splicer again?"

The doctor's smile grew. "I have something better in mind. You will need a, shall we say, forceful approach for this mission. I guarantee you will enjoy it."

Not one person was comforted in the slightest by his words.

"Now, allow me to explain your mission."

xXx

Dorssia had broken apart overnight.

Everything had started with that fated broadcast. Seeing Chancellor Amadeus exposed as one of those monsters had been too much.

The Council had been quick to act. Within moments, numerous news channels were denouncing the video as a fake, but…

The seeds had already been sown.

The people had seen. The doubt and paranoia had set in.

The Royalists knew an opportunity when they saw one. The remainders of the old regime had bided their time for over a decade. The faction had been nearly wiped out during Red Thursday and the months that followed, but they had recovered little by little. Soldier by soldier. The rightful King was hidden but alive. Many old soldiers had not forgotten their loyalties. Many young soldiers desired to bring a revolution.

What they needed was a way to sway a significant portion of the population to their cause and justify a large war.

Until Chancellor Amadeus had been exposed as a Magius, that is.

The attack had begun almost immediately. Entire military bases and cities were quickly taken as the defending Dorssian soldiers found themselves unsure who their allies and enemies were.

Just which side was right? If the Chancellor was not human, did that not make the Royalist right by default? Or perhaps, there was still value in the new system?

Not all had such ideological concerns.

While the map of Dorssia could not be firmly be divided into cities taken by the Royalists and cities held by the current regime, there was still one last group.

Several military commanders had broken their alliance with both sides and used the opportunity to rise like warlords of ancient times. A few cities had been taken by individual commanders seeking glory.

However, as the situation stood, the Royalists had one big advantage.

Said advantage was currently flying 10,000 meters above ground level, en route to one of their recently taken cities.

On the outside, it looked like a simple commercial flight. It was registered as such, and had all the appropriate permissions.

Inside, there were two dozen soldiers, all of them armed.

They were guarding a cage. Put more accurately, they were keeping the thing locked in. They all had their guns pointed at the thing inside the cage. There was no talk. No banter. There was only cold resolve as they looked at what lay behind the bars.

It was a monster. They knew that. They had seen it. Now it was bound and gagged. It was in a straight-jacket and wrapped in chains. Before that…

It had torn through dozens of soldiers. With a swing of its arm, it had decapitated a man. It was faster and stronger than anything they had even seen. Then there was the light.

The green light would haunt their nightmares for weeks, if not months.

It had taken time and the lives of many soldiers but they had captured it. They had weakened it. They wore it down.

They had Chancellor Amadeus K. Dorssia.

 

xXx

xXx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The hardest part of the chapter was the Saki and Shoko's talk. It was something I had planned since the beginning, but actually writing it was a challenge.
> 
> In case there was any doubt, this fic follows canon. Saki and Haruto were not dating.
> 
> Saki is saying that as a way to hurt Shoko. She's understandably angry with her. This chapter also marks the beginning of Shoko's redemption as well as the first steps towards mending her relationship with Saki. It's going to be a long road and some people are going to make her work for it (especially L-Elf), but she's getting there.
> 
> Speaking of redemption, I finally got to write Iori. She's not in a good place right now. Her talk with Takahi was considerably easier to write. I hope I managed to capture their relationship well. Iori always stuck me as someone who constantly felt inferior to Takahi.
> 
> More in depth comments about the chapter in my LiveJournal Account.
> 
> Don't forget to comment. The feedback really helps the writing process.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer** : This one unfortunately does not own Valvrave, which means _L-Elf: Revenge of the Ham_ will never see the light of day.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Vern had a rather peculiar history as far as Dorssian cities went.

It happened generations ago. An invading force ravaged the land, destroying several cities on its way to the capital. Vern was yet another city on its path. The city's forces would not be enough to repel the invasion. Without help, it would have been taken, or worse, destroyed.

The king of the time had acted.

Instead of staying safe inside the capital, he and his troops moved to defend Vern. It was a long, hard-fought battle. In the end, the king and his men managed to drive away the invaders.

That king was now long dead as were the citizens of the time.

However, the story remained and with it a legacy of loyalty. Kids in Vern grew up hearing the story. They took pride in it. Even now, the ancient king had a statue in the main plaza.

Vern's loyalty to the crown was indisputable.

Thus, the citizens of Vern had not been happy after Red Thursday. While some cities cheered and others debated, Vern remained firmly Royalist.

That fierce loyalty was the reason why Whitesteel had been built.

Built under the rule of Chancellor Amadeus, the military base was barely an hour away from the city. The risk of a revolt in Vern was always great and revolts needed to be dealt with quickly.

Whitesteel served as a constant reminder to the citizens of Vern of just where they stood.

To some, it was a symbol of fear and oppression.

To the Royalists, it had been an opportunity.

It was a slow process. One that took years. The Royalists had carefully placed their soldiers inside the base.

When the time for the revolution arrived, Whitesteel's takeover had been pathetically easy. More than half of Whitesteel's soldiers and officers were Royalists. In less than an hour of fighting, the base had fallen into their hands.

The surviving enemy soldiers had either escaped or been taken prisoner.

Vern was now firmly in the king's grasp, protected by the same base built to oppress it. Chancellor Amadeus had, without meaning to, helped create the best possible stronghold for them.

The irony did not stop there.

As Whitesteel was designed to quell a possible civilian uprising, its facilities were well-equipped to hold and imprison others.

It was the perfect place to put the former Chancellor.

Had they known about it, the irony would have set the soldiers laughing. As it was, only the ones who had arrived with him plus a few high-ranking officers in the base knew the full truth.

Amadeus had been brought to the base during the middle of the night, his cage completely covered up. He had quickly been thrown into the deepest cell of the base.

As far as the rest of the base knew, they were holding something and it was important. That was it. That was all they needed to know. They couldn't even go down to the cells to see what the big deal was. Only the soldiers who had come with the "package" could go down there.

Many had the urge to ask questions, an urge that had only increased once a team of scientists had been moved into the base. They fought the urge. Those who failed to do so discovered the pretty, red-eyed colonel's glare was more frightening than any weapon.

It was a pity.

Viktor could certainly have used the knowledge to cheer himself up.

The Dorssian soldier sneezed inside his Ideal [Blume].

The forest west of Whitesteel was the one area not completely covered in snow. Tall, ancient trees rose in defiance to the weather, their long empty branches reaching towards the sky. Everything else around Whitesteel was snowy fields as far as the eye could see.

It could almost be called beautiful.

It was also really, really cold.

Why did he get stuck with patrol duty?

Oh right, he drew the literal short straw.

He and four others were stuck combing the area in order to spot any possible intruders. Important as it may sound, it was just glorified grunt work far more suitable to Waffe pilots than his glorious machine.

Ideals were supposed to be the pinnacle of Dorssian engineering. In spite of its lower number of soldiers, Dorssia could fight and win against ARUS thanks to the superiority of their weapons.

Weapons like the Ideal.

Ideals were walking engines of destruction. All terrain. All functions. ARUS could not hope to compete. To be chosen as pilot of one was a great honor.

Then the Kirschbaums had arrived.

Viktor frowned.

Stronger. Faster. Better in every conceivable way. They were not going anywhere anytime soon. Meanwhile, the production of Ideals was slowly declining.

Ideals were, frankly, too costly to be grunt units. Viktor could already see it. In a few years, production of the Ideal would have stopped altogether, and the Kirschbaums would have replaced them on the frontlines backed up by an upgraded version of the Waffe.

It was already happening.

Why else would he be stuck patrolling a snowy wasteland with two unmanned units, while the Kirschbaum pilots stayed in the base?

The [Blume] was not even built for this type of work!

It was supposed to be a bridgehead, a bridgehead!

Mobile perhaps, but certainly not this mobile.

Viktor sneezed once more.

Damn, he really could use some soup.

While he would never dare say anything bad about his beloved Ideal [Blume], the truth was the sealing around the cockpit was nowhere nearly as good as the space-worthy units.

It let a bit too much cold in.

Not really best situation for a man with a cold.

The Dorssian soldier blew his nose on a handkerchief even as he looked at the readings on his radar.

Nothing.

Again.

Exactly the same as the past five hours. The screens showing him the outside were no different in that regard.

Pure snow-covered terrain.

Utterly devoid of enemies or anything relevant.

Both Whitesteel and Vern were too far away to even see.

Boring.

This was boring.

Not at all what he expected when he joined the army and certainly not what he was expecting when he joined the Royalists.

He was not some sort of thrill seeker. He believed in the cause. Under Chancellor Amadeus, Dorssia had changed, and not for the better. They had become strong to fight ARUS, and in doing so, had become just as bad.

Things had to change. If he could help realize that change, then good.

Still…

He was supposed to be a cool rebel fighting for justice!

He sneezed again.

"Man, I need a break," Viktor said.

Then it happened.

Without his radar detecting anything, two shots struck his unmanned units with barely a second between them.

Both Waffe fell with holes burned right through them.

"What the hell?" Viktor shouted even as he checked his equipment.

Nothing.

Radar and visual revealed nothing.

"Base!" he shouted into the intercom as he began to move his Ideal [Blume] away. There was no sense staying in one place with an obvious sniper around.

"Do you read me? Base! There is some-ARGH!" His words were cut as a blade pierced through his cockpit.

It was all it took to end his life

In a smooth motion, the blade was withdrawn, allowing the machine to crash into the ground with its pilot now dead.

One down.

xXx

The events outside Whitesteel had not gone unnoticed. The command center had lost contact with one of its patrol units barely a minute ago. Under regular circumstances, losing contact with one patrol could have been dismissed as a minor glitch.

Kriemhild had not lived the kind of life that could allow her to make such kind assumptions.

"I want the entire base on yellow alert," she ordered. "Have the Kirschbaum squad ready for launching!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Technically, she had no authority in this base. Even if recently promoted to colonel, she had no control over the officers here. It was out of her jurisdiction.

Officially, she was only here to supervise the interrogation of Chancellor Amadeus and most did not even know that much.

Unofficially, you did not say no to the woman who was rumored to speak to the king. Among the Royalists, Kriemhild's position was near the top. When she spoke, the soldiers obeyed.

"Commander," one of the officers spoke up. "We just lost contact with two more units."

"What does the radar show?" She asked.

"Nothing at all. There is nothing out there," the officer replied, checking his instruments.

"Yet our men are being taken down by something. Call the patrol team back," Kriemhild said without missing a beat.

"Hold it!"

It was all General Golovin could take.

Golovin had been in the army for a long time and had worked for the Royalist cause since its inception. Whitesteel was under his command and it was he who had used his influence to slowly place more Royalists in positions of trust. He was the one who had led the uprising in Whitesteel and conquered it for the Royalist cause.

There were only so many times he could allow his authority to be undermined so blatantly in front of his men!

"Colonel, I do not believe you have the authority to order my men, let alone tell them to abandon their positions," Golovin said.

"Would you rather I tell to them to stay and die?" … was what Kriemhild wanted to say.

Badly.

She didn't. She understood this was a power game. She had seen it many times. Officers, competent officers at that, would forget themselves when they felt their power threatened by someone else.

She had come on too strong and been too quick to take command. Not only was she a few decades younger than Golovin, but she was also a woman, a rarity in the Dorssian army. Had she taken a more "advisory" role and phrased her order as a suggestion, she could have gotten away with more. Now, it was too late. The old general's ego was bruised.

Like with many other things in her life, she blamed Cain for it.

To her most profound indignation, the man had always humored her too much.

A comment here. A joke there. Cain knew who she was and made certain she knew he knew.

It made interaction with her former commander… different from the usual, to say the least. He had cared little for proper behavior and focused more on her ability to get the job done, all while subtly probing and testing her.

Maddening as that had been, she never had to worry about hurting his ego. She doubted such a thing was even possible.

It meant she was out of practice with games like these.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. The military should not be a place where she had to worry about stepping on someone's ego.

Yet it was.

She regarded the angry general for a moment.

Golovin was average. Useful yet never spectacular. She had enough leverage to bulldoze him and take command of the entire base. However, such an act would make future cooperation problematic, something she would rather avoid, which meant she had to…

Ugh.

She hated playing politics.

"My apologies," she said, to Golovin's complete surprise.

"I overstepped my boundaries in my worry for the safety of the soldiers. Your troops are yours to command," she added with just the slightest inclination of her head, never breaking eye contact with the man.

It lasted only a second, yet more than one message passed between the two.

Kriemhild allowed herself a brief feeling of satisfaction when Golovin looked away first. The general accepted her words with a nod and proceeded to bark the same orders she had given moments ago to his crew.

Of course.

Sometimes she missed Cain's efficiency.

"Patrols 2, 4, and 5 are on their way back, sir," one of the operators said. "ETA: 2 minutes."

"Good," Golovin said, "And the Kirschbaum squad?"

"Ready to launch, sir."

Golovin nodded. In the best case scenario, this was just some weird radar malfunction.

He really doubted that was the case.

Something was out there and it seemed to be invisible to their radar. The patrols had been caught by surprise, but it would take more than a cheap trick to pierce the defenses of Whitesteel.

"Launch them. They are not to stray more than a mile from the base. Use visuals only to find whatever is out there."

The operator nodded and began relaying his orders.

"Sir," another operator spoke up. "I am receiving a distress call from Patrol Squad 4. The unmanned units are down. The pilot is currently fleeing from unidentified attackers!"

Golovin frowned. "What's his ETA?"

"Three minutes," the operator replied.

Golovin frowned. Three minutes. In a battle, that was a small eternity. Whatever enemy was out there, it was, at least, a match for an Ideal. If they left him alone, the pilot was unlikely to escape with his life.

A Kirschbaum could easily get there in time. It would barely take a minute, but sending them too far out would leave the base unprotected. At worst he would be sending one of his men into an ambush.

The utilitarian choice would be to let luck decide the pilot's fate.

However, doing so would have repercussions and he was not just thinking about the morale of his men. Golovin fought back a wince as he felt Commander Kriemhild's stare burning into his back. That was one woman he did not want to have as an enemy.

Besides, leaving a soldier behind was not an option that appealed to him.

"Contact Captain Schmitt," he said. "I need him to send a Kirschbaum to intercept and cover the retreat of Squad 4 right now!"

There was a flurry of activity in the command center as his orders were immediately executed. A few seconds later the gates of Whitesteel opened and a single Kirschbaum left, dashing above the snowy landscape at top speed. Four unmanned Waffe followed at a considerably slower pace.

"Put the pilot's visual on screen," Golovin said. "I want to see what we're up against."

The operator did so. In a few moments, the large screen in front of the command center showed the snow-covered terrain captured by the Kirschbaum's cameras.

"Visual contact with the target in 30 seconds," the operator called out.

Sure enough, the Ideal did not take long to appear. The machine was shot in several places and multiple sparks were coming out of its frame. It was a credit to the pilot's skill it was not already down.

However…

The enemy was nowhere to be seen. Enemy fire missed the Ideal by mere centimeters as it zigzagged at top speed, but the shooter was not in sight.

"A sniper?" One of the soldiers wondered.

Golovin shook his head. That was not it. They would have been able to work out the sniper's position if that was the case. This was different. The angle of the shots was all wrong. They were not coming from someplace far away.

The shots were appearing out thin air. An empty space in the field would suddenly light up as if someone had opened fire.

It was not possible.

Fooling the enemy's radar was the oldest trick in the book. ARUS would create a new type of shielding. Dorssia would make a better radar. Then the roles would reverse.

This was something else. The enemy was right there, it was just...

"It is invisible," Kriemhild said, her voice carrying only a hint of shock.

It was the same answer Golovin had come to.

In all his years in the army, he had never seen anything like this type of cloaking.

"This is Steel 3," the Kirschbaum pilot said through the intercom, ending Golovin's pondering. "I am moving to cover."

Visible or not, there was only one target. The Kirschbaum zipped across the field to cover the Ideal's back and deployed its shield, blocking an enemy shot.

It was the wrong choice.

A laser tore right through the front of the Ideal and hit the Kirschbaum's arm on the way out.

"Shit!" the pilot swore. The shot was not enough to really damage his Kirschbaum, but the same could not be said of the Ideal. He barely managed to get out the way before the Ideal exploded into a fiery mess.

It had been a trap.

The pilot had not been barely escaping. They had been letting him get away. They had another machine out here.

"Steel 3, get out of there! The enemy is invisible!" Golovin shouted.

"Sorry sir, but that's not happening," the pilot replied. He was not going to give his back to anyone here. With a push of his controls, his Kirschbaum rose into the sky. The Lowenglitzen on its chest glowed menacingly.

"Fool, you will just waste the battery!"

The Lowenglitzen was powerful. Even a Valvrave would not survive a direct hit. However, it used too much energy to be used carelessly. Under these circumstances, missing was tantamount to forfeiting the battle and the Kirschbaum pilot knew it.

Nevertheless, the Lowenglitzen roared to life.

Trying to hit an invisible enemy with this weapon was nigh impossible. The pilot had no intention of trying his luck.

He struck the ground.

Tons of snow and dirt flew all over the place as the fury of the Lowenglitzen devastated the earth around them.

"Blitzendegen!" The soldier's cry was heard loud and clear as he charged.

The sound of steel against steel rang through the field.

"I can see you, bastards," the pilot said as his robot's fist connected.

He had used the Lowenglitzen at half power to spread as much dirt and snow around as he could. If the enemy was invisible, he just needed to make it visible.

Both enemy units were now covered in dirt, very visible dirt.

"Great!" More than one person in the command center cheered.

The next seconds quickly silenced them.

With its stealth system compromised, the enemy had no reason to keep using it. The air around the enemy units shimmered for a second before they appeared.

More than one person in the command center gasped.

Much like the Kirschbaum, the enemy units had a humanoid shape. The predominant color was black with some specks of white.

The design was completely unmistakable.

Golovin smashed his fist against his armrest.

"Valvraves!"

xXx

It had started two days ago. Soichi Tokishima had gathered his "team" to show them his latest work.

"Are those… Valvraves?"

Haruto was the first to ask the question. His voice torn between awe and a healthy bit of panic. He was far from the only one with that question running through his head. H-Neun would never admit it but he felt a bit faint.

The black and white machines lined up in the hangar looked like Valvraves. They were slightly smaller and had considerably less equipment compared to the originals, but the resemblance was too strong to be a coincidence. There were six of them in total. One Valvrave was a mobile engine of destruction. Five Valvraves were already too many for his tastes.

If H-Neun was reading things right, the lack of any obvious specialization in the design meant these were mass production units.

That was really not a comforting thought.

"They are Kagerou," Nao said, drawing looks from both boys. Haruto's eyes lit in understanding a moment later.

Soichi Tokishima smiled in approval while H-Neun's face remained blank.

"Correct," Doctor Tokishima said. "While they may look similar, these units should never be considered true Valvraves. Unlike the Valvraves, these machines are mere weapons of war. They were but a minor part of the Valvrave project."

Soichi actually sounded apologetic when he said it. Almost as if he was embarrassed to admit he had been involved in their creation.

"The Valvraves are the pinnacle of human achievement. In fact, the Valvrave transcends humanity," Soichi went on, with considerably greater gusto. "Each unit is unique in its own way."

Here he frowned.

"Obviously, the process of creating a Valvrave is not mass-production-friendly. JIOR, in its short-sightedness, found fault with this," he said, snorting.

"The investors could not appreciate the true value of the Valvrave and only cared about simple military applications," Soichi said, rolling his eyes. "Thus, the Kagerou project was put into action to quell those doubts."

Doctor Tokishima gestured at the robots with a dramatic sweep of his arm.

"Some of the technology discovered through the Valvrave project was adapted for mass-production and the Kagerou was born. It is but a pale imitation of a Valvrave, meant only for war. Even normal humans can pilot it. However, a pale copy of the Valvrave is still superior to any other weapon."

"JIOR was building an army," H-Neun summed up, feeling a bit lightheaded. With five Valvraves and an army of mass-produced units, the balance of the world would have been completely overturned.

Forget about defeating the Council. Conquering every nation was not a dream with that sort of power.

Just what exactly had JIOR been planning to do?

Suddenly, H-Neun was really glad Cain had attacked Module 77. H-Neun hated the man but he might have just saved them all from a horrible fate.

Haruto's thoughts were running along similar lines and he was forced to, once again, rethink his opinions on his homeland.

Nao shook her head.

"No, JIOR wouldn't do something like that," she said but sounded unsure of herself.

"Oh, but they did," Soichi replied. "The Kagerou would have been the rank and file soldiers. Relatively easy to produce and due to being remote-controlled the loss of soldiers would have been minimal. Meanwhile, the Valvraves would have been the generals of the army. Each of them capable of turning the tide of the battle in JIOR's favor."

Soichi snorted, showing what he thought about that little plan.

"In spite of being a visionary, Ryuuji's sight was set on rather mundane goals," Soichi mused aloud. "What a waste. Still, he was quite the clever man. He even managed to build several Kagerou factories in JIOR territories without anyone noticing."

Haruto had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "So when Dorssia occupied JIOR…"

Soichi nodded approvingly. "They unknowingly ended up with a number of Kagerou factories. They were, of course, a well-kept secret. Many were completely destroyed by JIOR officers before they could fall into Dorssian hands, but a few remained well-hidden. All that technology was allowed to gather dust for months."

"Until you told the Council where to find the factories," H-Neun deduced, voicing the same horrible conclusion Haruto had come to.

"Exactly! It would have been such a waste of good par-Oomph!"

The sound of Haruto's fist colliding with his father's stomach echoed through the chamber. Soichi Tokishima's body sailed 10 feet through the air before crashing.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" Haruto asked, eyes red.

The reaction was immediate. Every gray suit in the hangar had his weapon pointed at Haruto.

"Hold it!"

The voice came not from H-Neun or Nao who found themselves back to back, staring warily at the gray-suited soldiers. No, it came from Tokishima Soichi, who was shakily getting back to his feet.

"It is okay. It is just a little father-son bonding time," he said, coughing slightly. "Right, son?"

Haruto bit the inside of his mouth hard enough to draw blood as he tried to rein in his anger. After some tense seconds, he nodded and lowered his fists.

"Excellent!"

Soichi beamed at him, before slapping his hands together and going on as if nothing had happened, though the others noticed his steps had noticeably slowed and his breathing was pained. "Enough of the boring history lesson for now. I took the liberty of making some improvements to these Kagerou for your mission."

He sounded so satisfied the three teenagers in the room could only take it as a sign of horrible things to come.

"I tweaked these models to increase their performance by up to 30%. Short of a Valvrave, you should have no trouble with any enemy you come across. Additionally, we have adapted cockpits into most of them. The slowed down reactions that came as a consequence of being remote controlled units are not worth the trouble."

"What are they running on?" H-Neun asked.

There was a reason why the Kirschbaum needed support in order to be effective. Without backup batteries and Waffe units ready to change them, the Kirschbaum's efficiency in battle would drop considerably due to its high energy demand.

More power sounded nice, but if the time limit was of one hour or less, it would do little good.

"Oh, you have no need to worry about that. The Council has graciously provided the materials needed," Soichi replied.

"They are running on Runes," Haruto deduced. The red in his eyes had faded but his jaw was set tight. "Isn't that right?"

"Correct, my son," Soichi said, making Haruto twitch. The word "son" somehow sounded terrible coming from that man's mouth.

"The Council collects a large quantity of Runes. It was not hard to persuade them to part with some of them for this project. Each Kagerou is powered by a Rune Battery. They are charged up and ready to go. With their current power, they could work for a month without needing a recharge."

Nao's and H-Neun's eyes widened at that, but only H-Neun truly understood how significant the information was.

A Kirschbaum's battery needed to be changed several times in the same battle. Ideals and Waffe were considerably more energy efficient, but even those could not compare to what he just heard

As an energy source, it seemed Runes were on an entirely different level.

Soichi Tokishima allowed himself a small chuckle even as he winced from the pain.

"Now, allow me to go over your equipment…"

xXx

As far as mission briefings went, informal did not even begin to cover that one. H-Neun felt the urge to sigh at the mere memory of it. The doctor had cool toys, but it had been up to him to plan most of the operation. Soichi Tokishima was a master in many fields but military tactics was not one of them.

Speaking of…

"Say, on a scale of one to ten, just how shocked do you think they are right now?" H-Neun asked after he and Haruto deactivated their stealth systems.

"You tell me. It's your plan," Haruto replied, adjusting his controls. Snow was surprisingly annoying to move in.

"Well, you're no fun," H-Neun said in reply. "Why do I always get the ones without a sense of humor? Besides, the plan is working fine."

As nice as it would be, the stealth system could not carry them through the entire operation. The plan had always been to deactivate it after a certain point. The shock factor of facing an enemy that looked so much like the Valvraves, in theory, would more than make up for it.

Of course, H-Neun had not envisioned having to discard it quite so soon. Nor had he expected to deal with a Kirschbaum. He should have known something was up the moment they found out their patrols used Ideals.

Oh, well.

"Whatever, let's get this over with," H-Neun said.

This, of course, being the lone Kirschbaum.

H-Neun raised his Kagerou's arm and opened fire. The Hand Ray had been a standard piece of armament for the Valvraves and it was apparently simple enough to be carried over to the Kagerou.

The Kirschbaum dashed to the side to avoid the attack and bolted.

The strongest machine in the Dorssian army flew away at top speed towards the forest.

"….it ran away," Haruto said, voice flat.

"… guess he really was shocked," H-Neun said. A heartbeat passed before both of them took off right after it.

"It's heading for the base," Haruto said while firing a few shots at the retreating robot. However, the enemy's zigzagging flight pattern made landing a hit hard. Once they entered the forest, the trees made the task even harder.

"He just used his big gun and is up against two enemies of unknown strength. Not a bad decision, all things considered," H-Neun summed up. An alarm beeped on his control screen. "By the way, check your radar."

"I see them. Four signals. Reinforcements?"

H-Neun shook his head.

"Not exactly, if I'm reading this right these signals should come from the…"

As if one cue they appeared. They were the smallest machines on the field by a wide margin. They were mostly white, with two large shields on their sides and six-barreled guns for arms.

"Waffe," Haruto said, finishing H-Neun's sentence. There was a note of distaste in his voice. Waffe were always a pain.

"Unmanned units. Four of them," H-Neun said. "Ready?"

Haruto nodded. "On it."

Pushing his controls, his Kagerou dashed for the units. The Waffe readied their own weapons to welcome him.

"Not so fast!" H-Neun said as he fired at the Waffe, forcing them to close their shields, stalling their attack by a second.

H-Neun grinned.

Stupid unmanned systems.

If there was another enemy so close by the right move was to get some distance first.

With a burst of speed, Haruto's Kagerou dashed around the Waffe and drew his blade.

The original Kagerou had been equipped with Fold Sickles. Soichi Tokishima had replaced them with one Z-Edge, similar to the ones used by Unit 1. Its ability to channel Runes gave the Japanese-style blade considerably greater power.

The Waffe never stood a chance.

H-Neun whistled.

"The doc was not lying about the performance of these things. Smoothest ride I have ever had," He said. The little distraction with the Waffe had cost them a few seconds, but that was not enough for their target to get out of the range. He and Haruto continued their pursuit right away.

"Please don't mention him," Haruto said while maneuvering in between some dead trees.

H-Neun offered him a rare sympathetic smile. He, like most kids at Karlstein, was an orphan. He never got to meet his parents. Still, H-Neun was pretty sure not knowing your parents was way better than being related to Dr. Tokishima.

Then again, Cain had been the closest thing to a father figure he had; so it wasn't like he could throw stones.

A few seconds of silence passed between the two as they chased the Kirschbaum through the forest.

After a while, Haruto looked at his radar and said, "The enemy is almost in position."

H-Neun grinned. "And just in time for it to meet the reinforcements too. Couldn't have planned it better. Now we don't need to hold back anymore."

Haruto nodded as they both pushed their thrusters to the max.

xXx

Sweat dripped down the pilot's forehead as he pushed his machine to the limit.

Even at half power, the Lowenglitzen used a lot of power. Taking on a Valvrave, let alone two of them was too risky. His best chance was to regroup with the others, a task easier said than done.

They were fast. He had to give that to them. He had been hoping the machines were just lookalikes, but that speed was not normal.

The pressure was tremendous. Had they been at the level of Splicers or even Ideals, he would have lost them by now. No, if they were at that level, he would have risked an energy pack replacement. The Waffe were programmed for that, after all.

However, with that speed, a single moment would be all they needed to catch up to him. Instead, he was forced to dash into the forest and send the Waffe to delay them.

The Waffe had barely slowed them down.

Damn it!

They were gaining on him. They were gaining on him!

He gripped his controls tighter as though the act could make the robot surpass its top speed.

Why couldn't he lose them?

"Steel 3," a voice said through his intercom. "This is Steel 1. We are on the way. I repeat, we are on the way. Coordinates are being send to you. Lure the enemy there. We'll hit them fast and hard. Blitzendegen!"

Hope swelled in his chest as he heard the words through the intercom and looked at the coordinates. It was close! It was a small clearing just a few kilometers ahead. Even with his Kirschbaum like this he could do it. A few seconds. That's all it would take.

"Blitzendegen!" He shouted back.

Just a few more seconds.

They were gaining on him fast but he could do it!

A tree appeared in his way and he did not even bother to dodge. The sheer force of his charge blew the obstacle away.

The clearing! He could see it.

The diminishing distance separating him from his pursuers was now a source of happiness. In a few moments he would lead them right into a trap.

Just another second.

He burst into the clearing, broken trees and snow carried along by his Kirschbaum's charge.

It struck precisely at that moment.

With a power that would not lose to the Lowenglitzen, a powerful laser came from above and tore his Kirschbaum apart.

The machine exploded in a fiery blaze.

xXx

"Nice shot, girl!" H-Neun said, grinning from ear to ear.

He loved it when things went according to plan. It had been a long while since that happened.

Carefully planned operations tended to go south when Valvraves were involved.

"I have a name," Nao replied through the intercom as she proceeded to move to another location. If she stayed in the same place, she risked the enemy being able to find her.

She had been stationed in the same spot one mile away from the forest since the operation began, waiting to ambush the enemy units. The three of them had gone over maps of the area while planning things out.

The forest was the logical hiding place and the clearing perfect for an ambush. It was just a matter of letting the enemy pilot think he was getting away. He had been going right where they wanted him to the whole time.

Nao flipped her hair over her shoulder. "If you must call me something, use that least."

"Oh, are we on a first name basis already? How forward!" H-Neun teased, making Nao's eyebrows twitch.

"Did you know there is such a thing as friendly fire?"

"Don't shoot him now," Haruto cut in.

"Hey, are you implying it is okay for her to shoot me later!"

"We need to stick together," Haruto went on. "There are still units out there."

Nao contained her intense dislike for H-Neun and nodded. "Fine."

After checking her equipment, she frowned. "I won't be able to back you up for a while. The cannon will take some time to recharge."

While their Kagerou were equipped with basic, if strong, weapons, the good doctor had prepared one special surprise. While the Hand Rays built into the Kagerou were good long-range anti-vehicle weapons, Soichi Tokishima felt they were missing something.

Enter the R-Blaster.

The weapon was almost as long as the Kagerou was tall and fired a powerful laser comparable in power to the Lowenglitzen. Its size made it unwieldy for close combat but it was perfect for long range attack. The R-Blaster could destroy an enemy even at distances measured in dozens of miles.

After some deliberation it had been decided Nao's unit would be equipped with the powerful weapon. The large cannon was now mounted on her unit's shoulder.

The only downside was the recharge time. It took time for energy to be transferred from the Rune Battery to the cannon. Nao would not be shooting any time soon.

Haruto and H-Neun would have to fend for themselves until the time arrived.

True to form, H-Neun was not the least bit bothered by the added pressure.

"It's fine. We'll take care of it," the Dorssian replied with natural confidence. Their enemies were probably confused right now after losing one of their own. That and the fear of a sniper were probably the only reason they had not attacked so far.

Easy pickings.

H-Neun smiled as he checked his radar.

"It is just four vs two. I don't even need to ask the 'Boy who Fought the World' if he has faced worse odds."

Haruto sighed as H-Neun laughed. "Don't use that nickname."

Haruto could not say he was completely immune to the fame piloting the Valvrave had given him. If anything the sheer number of people who were following him on Wired was more than a little overwhelming.

However, couldn't the press have picked a less grandiose-sounding nickname?

As he and H-Neun got in position to attack, a thought struck him.

"By the way," Haruto said. "Didn't you say the Royalists didn't control that many Kirschbaums so we shouldn't worry?"

For once, H-Neun looked rather bashful. It was true. He had expected one. Two at best. The Royalists should not have access to that many and their presence on the frontlines of the war was way too important right now.

"…well, if you really think about it, five are not that much…"

"H-Neun!"

"Sorry," the Dorssian said. "My information might be a little outdated, but it's not like the intelligence we received from the Council had much to say about the base's defenses."

H-Neun frowned as he considered the situation. "But it's weird. The Kirschcbaum are new units. Mass-production might have started, but there should not be this many here. The Royalists could not get their hands on that many of them because Commander Cain had the biggest say in where they went and… that lying bitch!"

Despite his harsh words, H-Neun was smiling.

"H-Neun?" Haruto asked, slightly worried.

"The sneaky…! She lied to me. Even after we were on the same side. Man, that's cold. Really cold," H-Neun said, before shrugging. "Oh well, it's not like getting lied to by a beautiful woman feels all that bad."

To that, Haruto had nothing to say. He could barely follow H-Neun's thought process.

Nao was far less kind in her assessment.

"He's gone nuts."

H-Neun just grinned as he and Haruto readied themselves to welcome the Dorssian forces.

He was so going to get Kriemhild back for this one.

xXx

It took a few moments for Captain Schmitt of the Kirschbaum squad to fully comprehend what just happened.

The forest around Whitesteel was old. The fact that their Kirschbaums could hide and maneuver within it was testament to the age of the trees.

He could confidently say he knew the forest like the back of his hand. With one of his men on the run the plan had quickly taken shape in his mind. The forest had a rather large clearing in it. That was no accident.

They had created it a long time ago exactly for situations like these.

Lure the enemy in and welcome it with fire from all sides.

That was what was supposed to happen.

Instead, one of his soldiers had been struck from above and now he and his men were stuck hiding!

He gritted his teeth.

"A sniper!"

Was it a fluke? Impossible. There had been another unit hidden from them the entire time. He thought he was leading them here, but had they actually been leading him instead?

His team had a numerical advantage, but there was no way to know for sure with those stealth systems of theirs. Even now his radar could not detect the third unit.

Even counting the unmanned units, no one could say for sure they weren't actually outnumbered.

"Steel-1, retreat. I repeat, retreat to Base," one of the officer's voice came through the intercom.

The captain snorted.

"No can do," he replied. "I'm not about to give my back to at least three hostiles."

Calm down. Breathe. Think.

He wasn't some rookie and this was far from his first unfavorable battle.

He just needed to analyze the situation.

Not many things could pierce a Kirschbaum, but that blast had gone right through it. Away from the cover of the trees, they would be easy pickings for a sniper, especially one with that much firepower.

However, his soldiers had trained in the forest and they had the Waffe as backup. As long as they stayed out of the sniper's sight, they had a chance, however slight.

"Squad, stay inside the forest and away from the clearing. Don't let the sniper get a clear shot at you," he said. "The other two units are still visible. We'll surround them. The sniper we can deal with later."

It did not take long to hear their replies. The surprise had not rattled them that much.

He smiled.

Good.

They could do this.

xXx

As time passed, the clash of titans threatened to tear apart the ancient forest. Trees that almost reached the heavens fell apart under the might of steel giants.

H-Neun grunted.

The battle was going as planned.

The Kagerou were as good as the good doctor had advertised. That was not the problem. He had overlooked one tiny detail.

Waffe were annoying.

Really annoying.

Supremely annoying.

Why wouldn't the things just die already!

He almost screamed in frustration as a sure kill shot was once again blocked by the timely assistance of a Waffe.

Since the battle had started a few minutes ago, they had eliminated only three enemy units, Waffe all of them. The Kirschbaum were all in good condition as the rain of laser fire coming his way was quick to remind him.

H-Neun dashed back and hid behind the trees even while returning fire.

Before the enemy could advance on his position, Haruto rushed in, Z-edge drawn. His sights were set on the closest of the four Kirschbaum.

In a display of agility which would have been impossible for normal pilots, every shot send his way was deflected by his sword. Haruto shouted as he aimed his sword thrust at the enemy cockpit.

It was for naught. Two Waffe intercepted his blade before it reached his target. His sword was buried deep into the two units. It eliminated them from the fight, but it also stopped his movements for one instant too long.

The light flashing in the Kischbaum's chest was Haruto's only warning sign. H-Neun cursed.

The Lowenglitzen.

A shot from H-Neun's rifle managed to throw off the Kirschbaum's aim just enough to allow Haruto to dodge.

The raging blue energy destroyed everything in its path for a mile. Had H-Neun not acted, Haruto would have been gone.

That was the power of the Lowenglitzen. However, it was not without its price. The enemy unit should have used a considerable amount of energy for that shot.

Haruto tried to capitalize on the opening, but the fire from the other units forced him to retreat behind the trees with H-Neun.

There was only so much punishment the trees could take. It was a wonder the forest wasn't half burned already.

Not good. Not good at all.

Before he could say anything, Haruto's Kagerou started to glow. H-Neun stared open-mouthed as the energy trail of his Kagerou solidified into a crystal-like substance, forming a barrier around them.

"That should buy us some time," Haruto said.

"What. Was. That?"

"Hard-Afterglow."

The reply did little to answer his question.

"I know! I have seen Valvraves use that thing plenty of times," H-Neun said, though he hadn't know the official name until now. "I mean, how did you just do that? Because let me tell you, that chapter must have been missing from my manual."

"Actually, I don't think you can," Haruto said.

H-Neun blinked.

"What do you mean I can't… oh, is this a Magius thing?"

"I'm starting to think so," Haruto said, deciding not to educate H-Neun on the differences between Magius and Kamitsuki just yet.

There were no specific controls to manipulate the Hard-Afterglow. It was not like moving the limbs of the robot. You just did it.

It was for that reason there were things he had not even thought to try until he saw Marie doing them.

"Great. So much for human-friendly robots," H-Neun said, drawing a chuckle from Haruto.

It was almost enough to distract them from how bad the situation was.

It was not like they had been unable to fight the Kirschbaums. They had come close to destroying them plenty of times, but the same thing kept happening. A Waffe or two intervened at just the right moment.

Four Kirschbaum were manageable. Four Kirschbaum and sixteen Waffe were not.

"How many enemies are left?" H-Neun asked. He swore under his breath as he heard the tell-tale sound of a Kirschbaum's Energy Pack being switched. There went that advantage.

"Eleven Waffe plus four Kirschbaum," Haruto replied.

"Well, that's just lovely," H-Neun replied. He had underestimated the situation.

The real Cain may have taught him to be strong enough to protect himself and his comrades, but he had spent most of his life with one hell of a team. They were Karlstein graduates. They were the best of the best. His commander, as much of a backstabbing, inhuman monster as he turned out to be, had been a damn good one.

He always had the resources needed for an operation. He always had the right support.

Right now, he was not losing in terms of piloting skills or machine. The Kagerou was a good machine and the Dorssian pilots may be good but they were not Karlstein good. Plus, his partner was no slouch.

He had to admit he was not sure what to expect from Tokishima, but the Valvrave pilot had surprised him. He had seen better pilots, but not that many. Surprising from someone who had been just a normal high school student months ago.

The problem was another.

Waffe support was a part of it. Unmanned support meant convenient meat shields, support fire, and mid-battlefield Energy Pack switches.

Then there was the strategic and intelligence support. They had gone into this operation with little intelligence other than the presence of their target inside the base. While Doctor Tokishima was a brilliant man, he was no military strategist. The current plan was mostly H-Neun's invention.

With Cain and L-Elf, he had always know exactly what he was going up against and how to neutralize it.

This was a novel experience and not the good kind.

"I don't suppose the big gun is recharged already, is it?" He asked.

"1 minute 33 seconds left," came the immediate reply from Nao. "Try to hold on."

"Well, don't you sound worried," he teased.

"Of course, I am worried!" Nao snapped back, raising both of H-Neun's eyebrows. They must look really bad right now if she was willing to admit she cared about him.

H-Neun suppressed a wince as the barrier created by Haruto started cracking.

Okay, so maybe it was exactly as bad as it looked.

"We are getting nowhere," Haruto said. "We need to get rid of the Waffe first."

H-Neun shook his head.

"We need to do more than that," H-Neun said. "We wasted too much time already. We are moving to Stage B."

Following L-Elf's orders had prepared Haruto for a certain level of audacity in any plan. Still, H-Neun's words gave him pause.

"Are you sure?" He asked, while keeping an eye on the barrier.

"You got any better ideas?" H-Neun shot back. "L-Elf is good but I don't think he can turn high school kids into master strategists in a couple of months."

More to the point, he would not even try, because that would make them less dependent on him.

"He usually just gave the orders," Haruto admitted.

"He does love to do that."

"And then he goes behind your back to manipulate things."

"I _know_ ," H-Neun said, nodding with more enthusiasm than was proper in the middle of the battle. "And the worst part is how he is always right."

"And he's so smug about it too."

"Exactly!"

"Guys!" Nao cut in. "Not the time. Seriously not the time!"

"Right. Time?" H-Neun asked.

"51 seconds. I just need a clear shot."

"Forget that, just shoot the moment it's done charging," H-Neun said.

"What? Bu-"

"He's right. Do it. We will send you the coordinates," Haruto said.

Nao frowned but nodded. "Okay."

H-Neun grinned. "Alright then, ready?"

Haruto nodded. "Let's do it."

The barrier exploded into shards as the Kagerou dashed out. With quick and nimble movements they dodged the barrage of enemy fire.

"H-Neun, behind!"

"I see it."

While two Kirschbaum had remained shooting at them, two had been moving around them to catch them in a pincer.

The leg of Haruto's Kagerou connected with the tallest, nearby tree with a powerful kick, sending it tumbling down at the Kirschbaums behind them. H-Neun quickly moved to cover his back, his return fire scattering the enemies in front of them.

With lightning speed, one of the steel behemoths closed the gap between the two. H-Neun barely moved out of the way of the machine's long reach.

And right into the Waffe's line of fire.

A Waffe was not equipped with weapons that could seriously damage his Kagerou but they were perfect annoyers. H-Neun did not even have time to fire back as another Kirschbaum moved to attack him.

And was promptly smacked away by a thrown tree, courtesy of Haruto.

The JIORian did not even have time to celebrate as a third Kirschbaum tackled him from behind, sending his Kagerou into the snow.

"Any second now, Nao?" H-Neun said as he fired to protect Haruto.

Nao fired.

The oversized canon roared as brilliant emerald light crashed into the ground. Snow was sublimated into vapor in an instant and the area became covered in a thick mist.

It would only last for a short while. The mist would soon disperse over the larger area around them. The pilots would not let something like this distract them for long. The distraction would only last for an instant.

An instant was all Haruto and H-Neun needed.

Blade flashing through the mist, Haruto sliced a group of Waffe before they could put up their shields. At the same time H-Neun's Hand Rays flared to life, striking each target with perfect accuracy.

The Dorssian grinned as he then took out his Kagerou's Z-Edge.

The Japanese sword was not quite his style, but he had always been a close combat guy.

Uncaring of the shots from his enemies, he dashed into the fray. A Kirschbaum pilot deployed his energy shield for a blow that would never come. Swords flashed as the two machines dashed in between the steel giants.

In seconds the mist faded to reveal a changed battlefield.

With the pilots' input to coordinate their efforts, the unmanned units had been a pain to deal with. Without it, the Waffe were limited to simple, predictable movements decided by the AI.

Only broken, burned wrecks were left.

H-Neun laughed. "That's more like it! You guys feel like running away?"

The four Kirschbaum attacked. Two charged right at them while the other two provided support fire from behind.

"I don't think they heard you," Haruto commented dryly, before dashing in to meet their attackers.

H-Neun shrugged. "No one listens to good advice. Ready for the next stage?"

"I have faced worse odds," Haruto said without a hint of boast.

His Kagerou's fist collided with the Kirschbaum's larger hands sending out a small shockwave. Haruto gritted his teeth and opened fire with his Vulcans. The Kirschbaum stepped back, giving him just the opened he needed. His free hand reached to draw his sword.

His mind screamed at him.

Thrusters came alive as he dashed backwards. Laser fire filled the space his machine had previously occupied. Even without the Waffe the pilots were good and knew each other's movements well. Which was more than could be said for their hastily throw-together-team.

Yep. Still nowhere near as bad as the battle to retake Module 77 had been.

Engaged in his own two-on-one duel, H-Neun laughed at Haruto's reply as he ducked and weaved in between the enemies' blows. "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you. I'll even lighten the load for you a little."

The Kirschbaum he was fighting jumped away and its missile pods opened. Fourteen missiles went right for H-Neun.

H-Neun snorted as he saw through the strategy right away. The missiles were just meant to get him into position when he dodged. His partner was already waiting in position for the moment to attack him.

"Man, did you pick the wrong guy to fight against."

With a grin so wide it threatened to split his face, H-Neun accelerated to the maximum. The enemy pilot stared, flabbergasted as H-Neun's Kagerou not only did not dodge, but ran right into the missiles.

Deafening explosions went off in the snowy forest as the missiles hit their mark. The enemy pilot stared confused, unsure if he had actually killed his enemy or not.

He did not stare for long.

The Kagerou emerged from the smoke. It was damaged in several places, missing a limb, and sparks were coming out of it, yet it moved.

It accelerated.

It crashed into the Kirschbaum and kept on going, bringing it along for the ride. The Kirchbaum opened fire but the machine held on. The Kagerou wrapped its remaining arm around him and held tight.

In seconds, they were miles away from the battlefield.

In seconds, they were inches away from Whitesteel.

"Special Delivery!" H-Neun cried out, as both machines crashed into the military base, exploding in a massive fireball.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This is probably the last time I decide to include the POV of random mooks. That was more trouble than it was worth.
> 
> One more thing. In the Undertaker novels, the Kagerou apparently work thanks to cloned bodies stored inside. Here that's not really the case.
> 
> Like always, feedback is appreciated.
> 
> Next time: Haruto and Nao vs Dorssia! Infiltration! Kriemhild! Amadeus!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: To my profound sorrow, I do not own Valvrave.

 

xXx

Chapter 7

xXx

 

Golovin was numb.

Whitesteel was broken.

The crash had destroyed the outer wall. Strong as it may be, the impact of a hundred tons of steel going at several times the speed of sound was simply too much.

Before it stood tall and proud. Now only a wreck remained.

The two robots fared no better. They were beyond the point of repair. Machine parts were scattered over the ground, some of them melted due to the heat of the explosion.

Then there were the casualties.

Whoever had piloted that machine was a madman.

The scene Golovin saw through the screen in the command center led him to no other conclusion.

Who could sacrifice their life so recklessly?

No, that was not the important question here.

Why would someone attack them so suddenly and with such fierceness?

The old general narrowed his eyes.

He already knew the answer. This base was not on the frontlines of the war. Taking it over would prove more trouble than it was worth due to the nature of the civilian population in Vern. An attack here could only have one purpose. The timing was too precise for it to be a coincidence.

They were after the monster Kriemhild had brought.

The implications were unnerving.

It had not even been a day!

Had their actions been foreseen to this level? Impossible. That could only mean…

"-ir? Sir?"

Golovin snapped to attention. One of his men was calling for him.

"What is it?" He replied.

"Sir," one of the operators said, "just… what should we do?"

Golovin cast his gaze over the command center. All around, he could see the men's gazes turn to him.

His men.

His responsibility.

If he did not show them the way, what were they to do? Now more than ever, they needed him to be firm.

His men needed guidance. There was a crisis to be handled. Golovin took three deep breaths. A resolute look took hold of his face.

"Send word to the sickbay," he said. "Let them know to start preparing rooms. I want every able soldier helping with the wounded. Move it, people!"

Soon the command center was a flurry of activity as Golovin gave out orders.

He was so caught up in the emergency he failed to notice the moment Kriemhild left the room.

xXx

Kriemhild tapped her foot as the elevator went down.

While she did not hold Golovin's ability in high esteem, she knew he would be able to control his troops. He was at least that competent. He would not be a general otherwise. She could leave him in charge.

Right now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

The battle outside was already lost. Golovin's men were good, but when Valvraves came into the pictures the worth of the pilot mattered little.

The similarities might be purely cosmetic, but she doubted it.

There could only be so many coincidences in the world. There could only be one motive behind this attack.

Chancellor Amadeus.

If that was the case, the culprits were most likely Type Seven Dangerous Lifeforms.

She immediately erased Module 77 from her list of suspects. While she did not doubt L-Elf's ability to betray her should it suit his needs, he would not dare risk his relationship with the Royalists right now.

That left her with one suspect. The group which had been controlling Dorssia from the shadows.

The Council of 101.

Months ago, Cain had stolen a Valvrave. By analyzing and adapting its technology, Dorssia had created the Kirschbaum. Kriemhild wondered just how many of their technological breakthroughs while studying the Valvrave had been possible due to the Council's guiding hand and how much research on the Valvraves had the Council done in secret?

Had things progressed to the point where they could mass produce those machines?

Kriemhild sighed. It was not the time to theorize. She would have plenty of time later on.

A light 'ding' sound told her the elevator had reached its destination. She walked out before the gate was fully opened.

At nearly a hundred meters below ground, the battle was barely, if at all, audible. However, that did not mean there was no danger. The soldiers stationed there were all tense and ready.

Upon seeing her they saluted and moved out of the way, letting her walk through the hallway and into the only room on the floor.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she said after walking in.

The room was a lab. There were over a dozen scientists in it. Each wore pristine lab coats as white as the walls. The equipment was new and immaculate, the latest in medical technology.

Perfect for analyzing the specimen.

"Special circumstances have arisen," she said. "Circumstances which may interfere with your research here. I am obligated to inquire just how far you have come along?"

"Oh, there is still much to be done," the head scientist, a short and pudgy man, replied. "The specimen is…. Fascinating. I had never seen anything like it. At a glance, it looks completely human. Even the first tests could not detect anything, but it is fascinating. Its blood alone could revolutionize medical treatment and-"

"How much time?"

"Eh?" The scientist asked, not prepared for the sudden interruption.

"How much time do you need to finish?" Kriemhild repeated, measuring the time between each word. The scientist gulped, realizing an unfavorable answer would not be welcomed yet having little else to give.

"The time… that is to say… a few months at least," the scientist managed to squeak out. Somehow, the slight narrowing of Kriemhild's eyes was infinitely scarier than if she had decided to scream at him.

"What about the samples?" Kriemhild asked. "Do you have enough to continue the research should the subject be lost?"

Dorssian soldiers had done their best to collect the blood Amadeus had lost during his capture. Additionally, the researchers had taken as many samples from him as possible after he had been rendered unconscious.

Thanks to his regeneration ability they did not need to worry about killing him during the process.

"…I guess… I would have liked to have more spinal fluid, but research could continue even if we lost the specimen."

Kriemhild nodded. "Good."

She snapped her fingers and soldiers marched into the room. "Gentlemen, your research will no longer continue in this facility."

Even if the attack was driven away successfully, the base had already been compromised.

"The soldiers will take you and the samples to a safer hiding place," she went on, as the soldiers escorted the scientists out of the lab.

Moving them out of the base right now was too risky, but they could at least hide everything valuable. Even if the specimen was lost the research could continue.

Distasteful as it may be, Kriemhild would rather know everything she could about what she was fighting against.

"Ma'am," a soldier asked her. "What are we to do with the lab?"

"Back up the data, but do not erase it. Move the samples, but find something to substitute them with. Throw a few things on the floor. We need to leave the impression of a hasty exit."

The soldier nodded. "Understood."

Should the attack succeed, their enemies would not doubt try to steal the former chancellor and destroy any piece of vital information they had gotten out of him.

Under the circumstances, perhaps the best choice was to let them think they had succeeded. Setting up fake research samples was easy enough do and combining it with real data would make it more realistic. Sadly, she could not create a convincing fake of the prisoner.

The information they could have gotten out of Amadeus would be a sad loss, but letting the enemy rescue him would allow them to continue studying his genetic material in secret.

Meanwhile, if they succeeded in protecting Amadeus, it would only be a matter of time before the next attack.

Measure your losses. Let the enemy have as many small wins as they wanted so long as you could keep working towards a decisive victory.

Working with Cain had taught her nothing less.

xXx

In the snow-covered forest, the battle raged on.

Explosion after explosion went off in the field as the titans clashed, knocking down trees and sending snow and dirt flying through the air.

Three against one was not the worst odds Haruto had ever faced. Compared to the last Battle for Module 77, it could almost be called cute.

He had faced several Kirschbaum during his last battle and won.

Of course, Haruto thought as he dashed to the side to dodge a rain of enemy fire, last time he had been using a Valvrave. The Kagerou were good, but he could not help but find them a little clumsy in comparison.

Or maybe it was just his body that was odd.

After all, he had just…

Haruto shook his head as he ducked underneath a missile. Not the time.

He pushed the controls and dashed, Z-Edge in hand.

Enemy fire welcomed him. With grace a 20-ton giant should not possess, he weaved in between the attacks.

He felt the ambush before he saw it.

A Kirschbaum came at him from the side. Its long limbs reached for the Kagerou, but Haruto was already on the move. He ducked under his enemy's long limbs as the Kagerou glowed with energy.

Haruto pushed the accelerator and turned, trapping the Kirschbaum in Hard Afterglow. The pilot raised its energy shield. It was a useless action. Haruto had no intention of attacking him right now.

Even taking two seconds too long would give the remaining pilots enough time to hit him. Plus, Ohta-san would not be able to support him any time soon.

His blade gleamed in the sun as he swerved to the right and dashed for the other two Kirschbaum. They opened their missile pods and an idea formed in his head.

They launched their missiles.

Haruto accelerated.

Unlike H-Neun, he had no intention of getting hit. Haruto tightened his grip on the controls. It was just a matter of timing it right.

Haruto aimed and fired at one of the missiles.

He hit the missile dead on.

The other missiles were all caught in the ensuing explosion. A cloud of smoke and vapor went up.

Haruto burst through the smoke, his blade held high. The enemy pilot did not even have time to react as his machine was cut in half.

Haruto exhaled. Another one down.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the Kirschbaum break out of the Hard Afterglow. Likewise, the other was already aiming at him. Haruto did not need to think twice about what to do. He dived into the forest, deciding to flee for now. The remaining enemy units began pursuing him.

"… that was really impressive," Nao said through the communicator. She had seen the entire fight from a distance and it was a stark reminder of how good the Valvrave pilots were. She doubted either Jin or her could have replicated the feat.

"It's nothing," Haruto replied, "The equipment is similar to what I used in Unit-1, especially the Z-Edges."

He had always been better in close combat. Something which had not escaped Yamada-san's notice.

The orange-haired pilot had once dragged him away to practice martial arts. The notion of fighting skill not being transferable to piloting giant robots had not even once crossed the hot-blooded youth's mind.

As a matter of fact, Yamada had insisted all the pilots should practice.

Haruto had been the only one without a good excuse to get out of that particular experiment. Rather, he had been the only one nice enough to go along with it.

For his kindness, he had ended up dead tired and covered in bruises. The bruises faded in a few seconds. The tiredness did not.

Kamitsuki could get tired. Who knew?

Predictably, all that effort hadn't made him a better pilot.

At least, that's how he recalled it.

And that was the problem, wasn't it?

He could recall many things now.

Like his death.

Haruto Tokishima had died.

So what exactly was he now?

"-ruto? Haruto, do you copy? Are you okay?" Nao's voice came through the communicator.

What? How long had he...?

"Yes, don't worry. I'm fine," he said, trying to hide how startled he was as he checked his radar. The other units were still chasing him. Good. The Kagerou's speed was greater so he did not have to worry about them catching up, but it would have been bad if he let the distance between them grow too much.

He needed them focused.

"You weren't answering. I was getting worried," Nao said. Though she did not phrase it as a question, Haruto heard it just fine.

"There was some slight interference. It's probably the weather."

The excuse sounded weak even to his own ears, but Nao did not press for more, something for which he was grateful.

Now they just needed to wait until H-Neun took care of his part.

xXx

Originally, Dr. Tokishima had planned to install cockpits in all the Kagerou. Thankfully, he had lacked the time to do it.

There were advantages to a remote controlled unit that made up for the slowed reaction time.

Such as being able to launch kamikaze attacks without actually dying.

H-Neun fought the urge to sigh as he moved through the halls of Whitesteel.

All in all, it had been rather simple. They had traveled to Whitesteel in a ship hidden by the Magius' cloaking mechanism. While Nao and Haruto had gone out to fight in their units, he had remote controlled his from the ship.

Once they had taken care of the biggest threats around, it was just a matter of making a big enough crack on the base. Crashing his machine had not quite been part of the plan, but it got the job done.

Besides, the more clues he could leave behind the better.

With the base in chaos, sneaking in and securing a uniform had been simple enough... relatively speaking.

H-Neun sighed. He really missed L-Elf's plans. He simply wasn't at that level of hyper-competent forecasting. The guy's plans were always just two steps away from being prophesies.

It ensured things rarely went wrong.

Like right now.

"I brought the bandages!" He said, opening the door the sickbay. The place was full. His crash had resulted in a number of wounded soldiers and more than a few dead.

He had underestimated the damage his break-in would cause.

There were simply not enough medical personnel in the base. Every idle soldier had been ordered to help. They might not be doctors but they at least knew to clean and bandage wounds.

H-Neun had been looking for the holding cells when a group of soldiers roped him into bringing medical supplies from storage.

A nurse who was not young, pretty, or female glared at him for making noise before taking the medical supplies off his hands and sending him to deal with one of the wounded. H-Neun sighed before following his orders.

As he reached the bed of his "patient" he noticed the many burns on his back. Had he been a normal man he would have winced. As it was, he had been through too many battlefields to be moved.

Really.

"You are not a pretty nurse," the patient lying face-down said, craning his neck to get a good look at him. His eyes were dilated, H-Neun noted. He was probably doped on anesthetics.

"Well, that's just the tragedy of the Dorssian army, isn't it?" H-Neun said as he began to clean the man's wounds. "Too many men and nowhere near enough females."

It was a sentiment echoed among many soldiers who counted the days until they were allowed some free time in town. Personally, as long as Kriemhild was in the army, H-Neun had no complaints.

The wounded soldier chuckled and winced after doing so.

"Heh, that's funny," he said. "You're a funny guy… or maybe it's the drugs."

"I have been told I am funnier under the influence," H-Neun said. It was no lie. It was the one time he had gotten X-Eins to admit it. Sure, he had to drag his unconscious ass back to base later, but it was worth it.

"Probably, but you're right, you know. Man, what I would give to have more women in the army, especially ones like that Kriemhild woman. You know what I mean, right?"

H-Neun paused.

Suddenly, this conversation was extremely relevant to his interests.

"I thought so," the soldier said, taking his silence as admission. "Don't get me wrong, I have had my fair share of ladies, but that woman is… damn. What I wouldn't give to work for her!"

"Sad to say, you're probably going to be stuck with the old man in charge of this base for a long time," H-Neun said as he began to apply the bandages. "Unlike me."

"You think you're special or something?" The man asked.

H-Neun grinned. "I know I am. Unlike you, I already work for Colonel Kriemhild."

"… I want to punch you now."

H-Neun chuckled. "Trust me, buddy, you don't want to punch me enough. I have gotten to see her out of the uniform."

The soldier grumbled something unkind under his breath before looking up.

"Hey, you mind answering a question?"

"I don't know her three sizes," H-Neun replied. He really didn't. In spite of his interest, it wouldn't be sporting at all if he took a peak without earning it.

"Not that! Look, I know you guys are supposed to keep your lips tight and all, but how about you share some info?" The man asked.

"I mean," the soldier went on. "We just did get attacked… because, you know, the thing you brought in. Yeah, don't give me that look. Everyone can put two and two together."

"How about I make you a deal," H-Neun said. "You tell me what you think you know and I will tell you how close you are. Sounds fair?"

"You're on!"

H-Neun smiled.

xXx

He had gone by many names. He had been a baker named Baruch. As James, he had been the mayor of a small town. Once she had been Ana, the adviser of a King.

Right now, he was Amadeus, Chancellor of Dorssia.

Before all, he had been Mirko.

As a Magius, he was fundamentally different from the humans around him. He could talk to them. He could laugh with them. He could befriend them and even mate with them. However, the gulf between them remained.

Yet he did not hate the humans.

The first time he had been caught by them and accused of witchcraft after saving the life of an old man, he had been furious. He had despised the miserable, ungrateful humans.

Age had taught him better than that.

Humans were frail.

They were limited.

Of course, they would strike at those stronger than them. Of course, they would hate what they did not understand.

They were not capable of more. Humans were not fit to rule themselves, yet their fierce desire for independence made ruling them troublesome.

Thus, the Council needed to rule in secret.

It was simply better to make the choices for them while letting them think they were in control.

It was for the best.

Truly, Mirko did not hate humans.

However, that did not mean he was not angry right now. They had put him into a straitjacket , wrapped him in chains and thrown him into a cell.

As though he was some beast!

Were he at full capacity, he would have already escaped. Alas, he had used too many Runes. If they kept him locked up, he was in danger of starving to death. Among his many life experiences, this one ranked near the bottom.

Not quite bad as that one time in Vienna, but definitely worse than Constantinople.

He sighed.

Just when would humans understand?

As he heard footsteps, he looked up just in time to see the doors to his cell burst open. After being in the dark for so long the light temporarily blinded him.

"Well, hello there!" said a voice containing entirely too much cheer.

Mirko blinked a couple of times as his eyes adjusted. In front of him was a youth wearing a Dorssian uniform. His eyes were green and his hair was a shade of brown so light it was almost blonde. The roots of his hair were darker in tone suggesting the use of hair dye.

He was familiar. Oh yes, the boy that had interrupted the ceremony!

"I see the Council is putting the assets I procured to good use," he said. Now, what was his name? He rarely bothered to learn human names nowadays.

Was it Henry?

No, that was not it.

Harold?

His musings were cut short when the boy aimed a gun at him.

"I should shoot you right now," the boy said. "Right through the brain. I'm willing to bet that would do it."

"It would not," Mirko said as though the matter had nothing to do with him. "Decapitation and other methods have been tried, especially during the Middle Ages."

"Besides," he added. "You are in no position to make threats."

H-Neun raised an eyebrow. "Funny that. Here I thought I was the guy holding the gun."

Mirko smiled. A second later H-Neun fell to the ground, clutching the back of his neck in pain.

"The Rune absorber located on your back has more than one use," Mirko said. "For one, it makes your Runes quite easy to sense and manipulate."

The pain stopped, leaving H-Neun gasping on the floor.

"Now, I do believe you have a job here," Mirko said.

"…If it wasn't for this thing on my neck, I'd shoot you, you know?" H-Neun said, as he knelt down next to the man and began undoing his chains. Mirko ignored him, his focus somewhere else.

By kneeling down, H-Neun had carelessly placed his neck too close to him.

It would only take a bite.

Mirko pursed his lips. Not worth it.

"You managed to procure the keys, I see," he said while H-Neun was unlocking his chains.

"It wasn't hard," H-Neun said, taking out a knife to cut through the straitjacket. "There were two soldiers coming to move you out. I took them out and… done!"

H-Neun took a step back once he freed the chancellor. "All done…eh, how should I call you now?"

Mirko considered this for a moment.

"Amadeus was the name of the former owner of this body," He said, standing up and shrugging off his bindings. "I believe it respectful to keep using it."

"Respectful," H-Neun repeated with an odd look on his face. "…right. Let's move on. We have few minutes until they begin to wonder why the soldiers they sent for you aren't coming."

"Ah yes, the soldiers," Amadeus said, bringing a hand to his chin. "Did you kill the two men that came to bring me?"

H-Neun paused for a moment. "No. I'd rather not kill more of my countrymen than I have to."

He tried to stop his next question.

He really did.

"Why?"

Amadeus smiled.

"I am feeling rather peckish."

xXx

He was running away.

He was running away!

Golovin bit the inside of his mouth with such force he almost drew blood. The fierce battle had become a game of cat and mouse. After killing another of his men the Valvrave had avoided direct engagement.

Whitesteel was in poor condition. He had several wounded and some dead. He had lost most of the base's Ideals and sending the few that remained out would do no good against this type of foe. Furthermore, he had lost three Kirschbaum, pilots included.

His two remaining units out in the field were being toyed with by an enemy too fast for them to catch.

He couldn't even order a retreat!

If he dropped the pressure on the enemy even for a moment, there was no telling what he would be able to do. Even if it was a trap, he could not afford to take any attention off him.

Right now the only thing he could do was focus on bringing the base under control.

The wounded were mostly taken care of. It had been hard, but he had managed to find a place in the base for most of them. The bulk of his men were busy treating them.

Which left one task, reinforce Whitesteel. He still had Ideals and Waffe. The crash had made a mess of things but he just needed to find a way to launch them in case another enemy decided to attack them right now.

"General! Urgent news," a soldier said as he dashed in. Golovin did not even have time to reprimand the soldier for not following proper procedure before the man went on. "It's escaped!"

"What," Golovin asked, dreading the answer, "has escaped?"

"The monster, sir," the soldier said, drawing odds looks from the rest of the command center. He shivered, before shaking his head as if trying to banish the images in his mind. "It's Chancellor Amadeus, sir. He's escaped. He… sir, he's not human."

xXx

Guns were good weapons.

Guns were great weapons.

In H-Neun's experience, there were few things that could not be killed with a well-placed bullet. Gun had changed infantry warfare. Nowadays you could kill people from a kilometer away.

Guns were the great equalizers.

Amadeus had missed the memo.

The bullets flew. They did. The soldiers' aim was perfect. At least one of those bullets should have hit Amadeus between the eyes.

Should have.

Before the glowing green energy sphere surrounding the two, the bullets crumbled to dust.

"You seem rather troubled," Amadeus said to H-Neun while strolling through the base's corridors.

Not walking. Not hiding. Strolling.

As the soldiers at the end of the hall opened fire at them, H-Neun struggled to recall a more bizarre situation.

He failed.

Though that one infiltration job where they all had to cross-dress came close.

A-Drei had no right to look that good in a dress.

"How are you doing…" H-Neun struggled to phrase his question as the bullets hit Amadeus' shield again.

They might as well be blowing confetti at the guy.

H-Neun settled for, "This?"

"It is nothing special," Amadeus said, waving his hand. "Just basic Rune Manipulation."

Rune. There was that word again. Technically, he knew what it meant. At the same time, he could not wrap his head around the concept.

Elemental particles of information which somehow provided more energy than anything he had ever heard of. How did that even work?

"So what? You think shield and that's it?"

"Nothing quite so simple. As a Magius, I have the ability to manipulate Runes. By giving out an adequate Order, I can produce a reaction in them," Amadeus explained. "This barrier is not doing something as convenient as meeting force with force. That would be too energy inefficient."

H-Neun raised an eyebrow as the panicked cries of the soldiers reached their ears. One of them threw a gas grenade at them which had about as much success as the bullets. Going by their numbers, he was positive they would run out of ammunition in about a minute unless reinforcements arrived.

"Sure seems those bullets can't get in to me."

"Oh, but they do," Amadeus said, drawing a surprised look from H-Neun. "Just not in a form that is dangerous to us. The field around us causes objects to degrade as they come into contact with it. Bullets become little more than dust."

"That's… awfully convenient," H-Neun said as he used the new information to revise his mental list of strategies to take down a Magius. "Does it break down the tear gas as well?"

Amadeus shook his head. "No, that would introduce quite a few problems. The gas is kept out by a separate Command. Manipulating wind currents to divert it is a simple matter."

"So you're untouchable as long as this thing is up," H-Neun summed up, looking at the green field around them with wariness.

"Hardly," Amadeus replied. "There is nothing quite so convenient as a defense that works against everything. The barrier can only handle a certain amount of mass at any given time. They would have better results if they charged head on with their bodies or… yes, that would do it."

H-Neun looked up.

By that, Amadeus was referring to the rocket launcher aimed at them. The soldiers had stopped caring about the collateral damage done to the base. Amadeus frowned ever so slightly. That could make things troublesome.

H-Neun was no longer listening. The instant he saw the weapon, he dived for the ground. His well-trained instincts won over any sense of reliance in alien powers.

He need not have bothered.

Amadeus moved.

His veins did not bulge and his muscles did not triple in size. He just ran.

The soldiers did not see him.

Before the soldier holding the rocket launcher could pull the trigger, Amadeus had already snatched it out of his hands and smacked him with it, sending him crashing into one of the walls. He grabbed another soldier by the collar and yanked him close to sink his teeth into his throat.

Runes entered his system. Pure energy invigorated his body and replenished his reserves. Amadeus had to fight the urge to drain everything. That would take too much time. Instead, he drained just enough to knock the man out.

The other soldiers had started to realize their situation and pointed their weapons at him but it was for naught. In three steps he was in front of the nearest one. He reached for his neck and snapped it with casual ease before throwing the corpse at his attackers to buy some time.

The remaining soldiers shot at him.

None of the bullets touched him.

Amadeus was not so fast he could dodge a bullet. He was, however, fast enough to move out of the way before they could pull the trigger.

At such a close distance avoiding their aim was all too easy.

One by one the soldiers fell.

A single hit was all it took to take each of them out of the fight. No, calling it a fight was too kind.

It was never a fight.

By the time H-Neun stood up, Amadeus stood amid twelve downed soldiers, half of them dead.

"How did they capture you again?" H-Neun asked. The man wasn't even wounded. There was blood on his clothes but none of it was his.

"Surprise played a part in it," Amadeus admitted. "I was unprepared. I held onto the illusion that I could still keep the secret. By the time I started using Runes, it was too late. There were simply too many of them."

An odd emotion crossed his face, leaving H-Neun confused.

As a human, he was unable to understand.

The Magius had guided humanity for centuries. Humanity had flourished under that guidance. All that was no more. They had failed. He had failed.

Now the world marched on in an uncertain direction.

Words alone could not express his regret.

"We should move on," H-Neun said. "They should already know you're out. They will send more patrols soon."

There was a note of annoyance in his voice. He had wanted to stealthily get out of the base.

The alien wanted to feed.

H-Neun really missed it when the people calling the shots were more competent than he was.

"Very well," Amadeus said. If they started using rocket launchers and grenades instead of bullets, things could become troublesome. Even for him. "However, I do believe we have a little time before moving on."

The disgust on H-Neun's face spoke volumes. "Of course," he said, between gritted teeth and turned away.

He did not need to look to know where Amadeus was sinking his teeth into.

Once again, he was forced to stand by as his countrymen were killed.

xXx

Haruto had to give them credit; they did not give up.

In a way, that was a good thing. His goal was to keep most of the base's heavy hitters occupied with him, something which had proven to be a simple task.

Which was not the same thing as an easy task.

The pilots were good. Even if his equipment was better, they were good and that was a problem.

Had it been just a matter of fighting them, he could say without boasting he would have already won. However, because he was only trying to keep them busy, they had given him a few scares.

The pressure caused by the constant chase was heavy. It was not worse compared to what he had been through. Just different.

When his Kagerou received H-Neun's signal, he brightened up.

"Ohta-san, are you in position?" He asked.

"I'll be there in a minute. Moving while carrying this thing is harder than expected," she replied. "Oh, and Haruto?"

"Yes?"

"If that Dorssian is going to call me by name, you should do the same," she said. "I'd rather you do it than him."

Haruto chuckled as he ducked between some trees. "Alright... Nao-san."

Nao wanted to push him to drop the honorifics too, but they had more important things to do… for now.

Hidden under the cloaking field, the pink haired pilot made her way through the forest while carrying the gigantic cannon over her unit's head.

While the weapon was nearly the size of the unit and then some, the Kagerou could move and lift several times its body weight.

Moving was not the problem, the forest was.

Moving without knocking down trees was difficult, but Haruto had gone through the trouble of dragging the enemies away from this area. She couldn't afford to ruin the whole thing by accidentally giving away her presence.

It was hard, but she managed to get to the designated point. H-Neun had given the signal, so there was only one thing left to do.

She aimed the oversized weapon at Whitesteel.

Even if the distance could only be measured in kilometers, it did not put them out of her range.

Nao fired.

Fierce green energy going at several times the speed of sound annihilated everything in its path. For the second time that day. Whitesteel was struck. Its walls were simply no match for the weapon created by Dr. Tokishima.

No, it was more than that.

In an era of Valvraves, something like a military base of bricks and steel simply had no place. It was an outdated concept that would fall prey to the new wave of weapons.

"Done," she said over the intercom. "That should give him a way out, provided it didn't hit him."

"…You really should sound a little more concerned about that possibility," Haruto said. Even if they knew where H-Neun was, creating an exit by blasting a hole in the base was not something he would have liked doing.

Of course, he had his own job to finish. With a serious look on his face, he turned and dashed for the Kirschbaum who were torn between continuing the chase and going back to their base.

Haruto had no intention of letting them take the second option. He opened fire at once.

To their credit, they did not allow the shock to slow them down. They each dashed to the side, going in a semi-circle to catch him in a pincer.

Missiles flew at him.

His Kagerou zigzagged through the snowy field to dodge them as he went for one of the Kirschbaum. Contrary to Haruto's expectations his enemy did not flee. Instead, it met him head on.

A shockwave rang through the field as two fists of steel collided against each other.

Something went sailing through the air.

It was the arm of a Kirschbaum. Haruto's eyes widened as the rest of robot advanced and began to wrap its remaining arm around his Kagerou.

The head on clash had been a ruse.

The moment their fists collided the pilot had detached the arm and kept on going, easily getting past his guard due to the unexpected move.

These thoughts passed through Haruto's mind in a fraction of a second.

While his Kagerou could still move, he drew his Z-Edge and stabbed just as the Kirschbaum tightened its grip.

The blade went right through the cockpit.

Just an instant too late.

The pilot was dead. The machine would not move anymore, but the tight grip of the Kirschbaum was not something his machine would be able to shake off in this situation.

The remaining pilot capitalized. The blue light of the Lowenglitzen was aimed right at him. Faced with incoming death, Haruto did the only thing he could.

He flew.

The blue blast barely missed him, taking only the leg of the Kirschbaum attached to him.

Haruto kept going. He went up and up. It was a credit to how strong a Kirschbaum was that its grip withstood that speed.

Haruto frowned. The large arm was seriously hampering his movements. His machine was not lacking in strength but getting the right leverage in this position was another matter.

However, he couldn't really stop for long and let his enemy recover and go back to base.

Only one choice then.

Haruto took a deep breath and nodded. He really hoped this worked.

He dived.

The speed of Kagerou exceeded sound several times over.

Haruto used all of it as he turned himself into a human missile aimed right at the remaining Kirschbaum.

The enemy pilot could not react.

Haruto did.

Barely meters away from crashing, Haruto's Kagerou came to a dead stop.

The Kirschbaum holding to him did not.

Carried by momentum, it kept going and crashed into the enemy unit. The sheer force of the blow cratered the earth. Dirt and snow flew everywhere.

Haruto let out the breath he had been holding when he saw the wreck that remained of both machines.

"Mission accomplished," he said. "I'm moving over to the meeting site."

"You know, I said keep them busy, but you sure took your sweet time with them," a familiar voice said through the intercom. Despite himself, Haruto smiled a little. "Were you going to invite them for dinner afterward?"

"Big words from someone whose only accomplishment was crashing his machine," Nao cut in.

"I did a lot more than that! Besides, it was part of the plan. All part of the plan," H-Neun snapped back.

"You managed to get out safely," Haruto half said, half celebrated.

"Yes, mission accomplished and all that. The package is safe," The Dorssian replied, though he did not sound happy about it. "Let's just get out of here."

Haruto nodded though the two could not see them.

For now, it was over.

xXx

It was over.

It was all over.

Golovin could do nothing but fall into his chair.

It was a disaster. Throughout his entire military career, he had never experienced something of this magnitude.

Complete and utter defeat.

His pilots were dead, their machines broken. Whitesteel was… standing and that was about the only positive thing that could be said. Its walls were broken. Its soldiers wounded or dead.

The prisoner was gone.

They had not been able to recapture it. By the time he was starting to reorganize his troops to mount a capture attempt, that blasted beam weapon had torn right through his base. He could only thank his lucky stars he had not been caught by the blast.

Unlike many of his soldiers.

Golovin clenched his teeth. It had been all chaos from that point on. By the time he had managed to organize a search party, their enemy was long gone. Visual and radar showed nothing at all.

It was a military disaster.

Its effect on the war would not be immediate. Whitesteel was not on the frontlines. However, word would spread. The value of Whitesteel was symbolic. Whitesteel was meant to be a symbol of their power. Whitesteel was meant to protect Vern.

Now Whitesteel was broken. They had failed to protect anything. Had the enemy launched an attack on the city, they would have been unable to save it.

Oh yes, word of this defeat would spread. The public would lose trust in them. The morale of their soldiers would drop while that of the enemy would rise.

His soldiers had died and the only thing he could offer them was a failure.

Golovin slammed his fist against the armrest of his chair. He got up and stormed out of the command center before anyone could stop him.

It was all _that thing's fault_.

If they hadn't brought it here, the attack would never have happened.

If they hadn't brought it here, his men wouldn't have died.

If only _she_ hadn't brought it here!

"It was your fault!" He shouted as he slammed the door to Kriemhild's room open. Thankfully for him, she was there. His rage would have been wasted otherwise.

"You brought that thing here!" He accused. "My men died because of it! My men died because of you!"

In front of Golovin's rage, Kriemhild might as well have been made of ice.

"You are angry," she said, standing up after a second. "You are angry and with good reason, which is why I will overlook your conduct this time. However, make no mistake. My men were the ones guarding the creature and all of them are dead too. If you dare to say this is my fault again, I will not hold back."

Golovin wanted to shout. He wanted to rage at something. At anything.

The sheer coldness in Kriemhild's gaze stopped him.

"…you… are right," he said, tired. "My apologies."

"The enemy knew the creature was here," Kriemhild said. Choosing to change the subject instead of either accepting or rejecting his apology.

"You suspect a traitor?" Golovin asked, deciding to go along with the flow for now.

"The information had to come from somewhere," Kriemhild said, letting the implications do their work on the old general's head.

The only people who had known about the true identity of the package had been Kriemhild's men who were dead, a few of his officers… and the people who had given the order in the first place. The privileged few who were at the King's side.

The idea of a spy hiding there was alarming.

"It is too early to jump to conclusions," Kriemhild said, turning away from him. "If possible, I would like you to do your part to discard some possibilities before assuming the worst."

Golovin frowned as he read between the lines.

"You want me to start an investigation on my men. After all this?" Golovin couldn't keep the indignation out of his voice.

"You can disguise it as a psychological and medical evaluation if you wish to," Kriemhild said, not bothering to turn around. "However, the possibility must be discarded before we can move on. Unless, of course, you wish to be a target of suspicion as well."

Golovin gritted his teeth but managed to hold in what he wanted to say. Logically, he understood she was right. Still, the indignity was too much to bear.

"And what of those machines?" He asked instead. "What are we to make of that design?"

Did JIOR have anything to do with this?

"I will handle that part of the investigation," Kriemhild said. "You have other matters to attend."

Realizing he was being dismissed, Golovin frowned but left the room. Even if he did not like that woman, there was little point getting into a bigger argument right now. Like she said, he had things to do. His men needed him.

Once he left, Kriemhild sighed and fingered the note she had stuffed in her pocket the instant Golovin had opened the door.

In it, there was a simple sentence.

_In the future, let's meet for tea._

_._

xXx

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original idea was for Whitesteel to be done in one chapter, but there were lots of things to cover. As an aside, with this chapter the fic should have around 50,000 words. I'm kind of… proud of that I guess?
> 
> The end of this chapter also marks the end of the first story arc. This was meant to be a re-introduction to the world of Valvrave after the finale. I needed to go over the different players on the board and just where everyone stood after season 2.
> 
> I guess you can call these chapters Book 0 or something.
> 
> Like always you can find more detailed comments about the chapter and the reviews in my Livejournal account. If it doesn't show up yet, give it some time.
> 
> Also, don't forget to leave a comment! Your feedback is always appreciated.
> 
> Next Chapter: The trio tries to cool down after their first mission. Meanwhile back to Module 77, Saki and Shoko bond and Akira tries to make a friend. Sorta.


	8. Interlude: Sakimori

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Valvrave. That makes me sad.

xXx

Interlude: Sakimori

xXx

It was night in Model 77.

A grievous crime had been committed.

"You have hot water!"

From a certain perspective, that is.

Sashinami Shoko pointed with such energy it would be easy to mistake her for the detective of a mystery drama unveiling the murderer.

Rukino Saki was not amused.

Sitting on her bed, Saki ever so slightly lifted her gaze from the book she was reading (Bram Stoker's _Dracula,_ of all things) to look at the finger scant inches from her face and followed it up all the way to green eyes filled with righteous indignation.

"And?" Saki asked, putting the book down. There was no point in reading what was left. Stoker had obviously gotten bored near the end and rushed the whole thing.

Everyone knew you couldn't kill a vampire with a bowie knife.

"You lied!" Shoko said as if this was an unspeakable offense just three steps away from murder. "You said your room had cold water."

"I think we have already established I lie to you about many things. Many, many things," Saki said, referring to the conversation they had just a few days ago. While Saki had contemplated keeping up the deception, she was simply not that cruel.

Besides, the dumbfounded look on Shoko's face after she told her the truth was hilarious.

"That was really mean too!" Shoko said, waving her arm as a bit of red crept into her cheeks. "But this is important! The other students are stuck using cold water and your room is all warm and comfy and hot water-y."

As a Valvrave pilot, Saki had access to certain benefits. Benefits that were, for now, beyond the grasp of regular students, hot water being one of them.

It wasn't just her. The other members of the current government had better accommodations compared to the other students.

There were good reasons for this.

The underground lab they were staying in was not meant to house a large number of people. There were simply not enough rooms and the number of wounded necessitated placing them in a large, open area in order to keep an eye on them all.

Which meant the regular students got stuck with the large conference rooms and public baths without hot water as opposed to nice rooms with private bathrooms.

"Blame L-Elf for that. It was his choice."

Which wasn't to say she disagreed it with it at all.

"We don't have enough rooms for everyone so things worked out this way. Soon, we'll be able to move up and this won't be an issue anymore."

Shoko frowned. Saki had a point but she was not willing to let the issue go just like that. "Well yes, but-"

"Besides," Saki cut her off, her smile gained a teasing edge, "I can't help but notice you are complaining after taking a bath."

It was true. Shoko was clad in only a towel. Abundant steam came from the open bath behind her, a testament to the length of her stay the room.

"Well… that's… It was just so good and warm and I hadn't taken a bath in forever… and your shampoo smells really nice," Shoko said, blushing and avoiding her gaze.

The sequence of events that had led Saki to invite Shoko into her room was long and convoluted. At least, that's what Saki would like to say.

In reality, it was quite like finding a kicked puppy and bringing it home. Only in Saki's case, she had done quite a bit of puppy-kicking before taking mercy on Shoko. The girl's state was far too pathetic for Saki to derive much joy from. Shoko was so lost, Saki had found herself wanting to help her out a bit.

Of course, just because she felt sorry for Shoko did not mean she could not tease her.

"You don't sound grateful to me," Saki said.

"Eh?"

"Let's recap, shall we," Saki said, crossing her legs. "Out of the kindness of my heart, I took you in even after all the horrible things you have done. Selling us out. Branding us as monsters. Oh, the list goes on and on."

"Ugh!"

Shoko might as well have been punched.

It was pitiful. A bit funny, but mostly pitiful.

The Shoko Saki knew would not have been brought low so easily. The bright, stupidly cheerful girl did not know the meaning of despair. Seeing her reduced to this just felt _wrong_ to Saki.

But… progress was progress.

A few days ago, this much would have reduced her to tears. Little by little, Shoko was beginning to regain herself. Saki would never admit it out loud, but Module 77 needed the old Shoko back. Her stupid, boundless optimism was something they could all use right now.

For that reason, she would make certain Shoko was ready when the time came. She would knock her down again and again until she could stand on her own.

"Your gratitude is completely lacking," Saki went on, deciding to take things a step further. "To think us Valvrave pilots went so far as to give up our humanity to protect you and you repaid us with betrayal and prejudice."

"Gah!"

Any satisfaction she derived from this was completely coincidental.

Honest.

"Do you really think a simple thanks will do?" Saki asked.

Shoko could only shake her head in negative.

"Good," Saki said, flipping her hair. "Then what can you do to offer proper thanks?"

"I… really don't know," Shoko said, her gaze dropping. "I don't have anything left."

For a moment, Saki wanted to hug Shoko. She mercilessly squashed the urge before her body could act on it.

"Oh? Are you sure you have nothing to give? I have not fed yet, you know?" Saki said. "I can't, really. I have no one to feed on. How are we pilots going to feed? I wonder. I wonder. Just who will volunteer? We might just die of starvation otherwise."

"I'll do it," Shoko said in a voice so low, Saki nearly missed it.

"What was that?" Saki asked.

"I said I will do it!" Shoko shouted, looking for once like her old self. The girl knelt in front of Saki and offered her neck to her. Determined green eyes looked up at her.

Saki raised an eyebrow. Well, she had wanted to cause this sort of reaction, but she had not expected it so easily. Even if she was being far from subtle, people should not just volunteer themselves to be bitten by vampires regardless of what every other vampire romance novel said on the subject.

Just how far could she take it?

"You do know what you are offering, right?" Saki asked leaning closer to Shoko and taking her chin in her hand. "I may not drink your blood like a vampire, but I can't guarantee your safety."

Shoko shivered but didn't move back.

"I will do it," she said.

"You might die," Saki whispered into Shoko's ear as she wrapped an arm around Shoko and pulled her close.

"I-I…" Shoko took a breath to calm herself. "I am ready for it! Just… please be gentle!"

Saki leaned back to get a good look at Shoko. Her body trembled. Her face was flushed. Her hands were balled into fists. She made for a really pitiful picture.

Yet she did not lean back. She waited for her fate with teary eyes closed.

She couldn't help it. Saki snorted.

"I can't believe you bought that," Saki said in between chuckles. "I could just take a picture!"

"What?"

"There is no way I would ever feed on you, Shoko," Saki explained in a kind voice that sent hope into Shoko's heart.

"Really?" Shoko asked.

"Of course, who knows what would happen to me if I did? An idol needs to eat healthy," Saki explained.

Hope died a painful death.

"You could be contagious for all I know. I might start Shoko-ing things up and no one wants that."

"What type of verb are you turning my name into?"

xXx

Satomi stared open-mouthed at the scene in front of him.

Everything was floating.

Everyone was floating.

Dyson Spheres were humanity's crowning achievement and Modules were the building blocks of said achievement. It was in the Modules people lived their day-to-day lives.

Module 77 boasted a city, lakes, a forest, mountains, farming fields, and then some. It had a truly staggering area, an area which was populated by people and thus needed a few key components like oxygen, gravity, weather, and just the right amount pressure. All of it simulated, of course. The Module was built to reproduce all the natural phenomena necessary for human life.

However, impressive as they were, Modules could be quite frail. If the dome broke, the people would be at the mercy of space. The designers had done their best. They truly had. In the event of a breach, the Module's systems would work overtime to compensate while repairs were done.

Those systems had held.

They held during the first Dorssian attack.

They held when L-Elf's plan called to make a hole at the bottom of the Module.

They held when Cain literally drilled a hole in the Module.

However, they couldn't hold forever. The Module was long overdue for serious maintenance and H-Neun's getaway had been the drop that spilled the cup.

Now everything floated.

Including the bodies.

Repairs above were going too slow for everyone's liking, which meant they were going to have to brave the vacuum if they wanted to get the topside ready anytime soon. Luckily, they had managed to find enough space suits for the job.

Satomi had gathered volunteers among the students who had been lucky enough to escape from ARUS' attack without wounds and put them all in the space suits. They had gone up, ready to clean things up.

The sight of dead bodies and blood floating in their school had been too much for most of them.

Puking inside a spacesuit, as Satomi found the hard way, was far from pleasant. He and his team had to go back down to clean up and change before returning to their jobs, now with empty stomachs.

"Alright, let's move," he said, more to himself than anyone else. He steeled himself and took his first steps towards one of the many bodies floating around.

He reached out to grab the body and, to his horror, found he knew him.

Tanaka. Captain of the Chess Club.

They hadn't been friends. The few times they had interacted had been due to Student Council business. From what Satomi could remember the guy had the annoying tendency of thinking himself smarter than everyone around him. To be honest, he never liked him.

As he looked at his bloody form, he fought the urge to break down and cry. He did not deserve this. Not one of them did.

Satomi shivered when he realized that somewhere in this school Youhei's body lay dead.

He had considered himself a mentor of sorts for the second-year member of the Student Council. Back when things were normal, he even thought the boy could become Student Council President during his third year.

Now he was dead.

It was not fair.

"Pass me the body bag," he said to one of the students. The teen stayed frozen, staring at the death that surrounded them.

"Now!" Satomi shouted, a desperate edge creeping into his tone. It was enough to snap the student into attention. Soon he was fumbling around trying to open the body bag.

Putting the body inside proved to be a messy affair. Despite wearing space suits, everyone wanted as little contact with the body as possible. It took them three full minutes to fit the body inside, after which their space suits had more than a few spots of blood on them.

Had they not emptied their stomachs already, they would have done so here.

Satomi looked at the scared students around him and knew things could not continue like this.

Summoning what little courage he had, Satomi spoke up.

"We need to organize," Satomi said, managing to summon the authority he had back when he was in the Student Council. "We'll divide into pairs. We'll split the body bags as well. We'll cover ground faster that way."

As expected, his volunteers soon launched a variety of objections to his plan.

"That's enough!" Satomi shouted with a ferocity that surprised even himself.

"Our friends are dead," he said, making more than one flinch. "They were killed and they are just… floating here. That's not right. Beyond the necessity of cleaning so we can move up, we cannot just leave their bodies to rot here. They deserve better than that."

Everyone deserved better than that.

"If you want to leave, leave now," Satomi said, drawing surprised looks from the others. "I do not need volunteers who will not do their job. If you want to help, then follow my instructions. If not, you know the way down."

No one left.

"Good," Satomi said, nodding. "Awai and Aoki, you are pair one. Nagai and Hoshino, pair two. Kamisugi, you're with me."

Satomi quickly divided the three floors of the school building between them and send them to do their jobs. Hopefully, they'd be able to clean all the bodies in a few hours. The blood floating around would take more time, but they would manage.

As Satomi reached for the next body and asked for a body bag, he knew for certain he had done the right thing by organizing the clean-up while Akira was distracted. His sister may want to help, but as her brother, he would never expose her to this if he could help it.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face as he considered the thought. He was aware of his sister's position as a Valvrave pilot. He was not that naïve. His sister would have to fight. His sister would have to kill people.

It was a horrible thought but it was the truth.

However, he was still her big brother.

It may be the only thing he could do right now, but he would at least spare her this sight.

xXx

To an outsider, it would be easy to see there was a vacuum of power in Module 77.

L-Elf might as well have become a ghost. He appeared only when he did not have someone at hand to give orders for him. Kibukawa was usually talking to L-Elf, and Nanami Rion, their teacher, had sustained wounds during ARUS's attack. The Valvrave pilots (the two that were left) were even worse, and Shoko had seemingly disappeared. Meanwhile, Satomi was currently on a mission topside.

The usual authority figures were nowhere to be found.

The students had no one to turn to.

Takahi had stepped up.

Yusuke would be the first to admit he hadn't seen that one coming.

Back in high school, he had thought of Takahi as hot but kind of bitchy.

She was still both, if he had to be honest. She was ruthless and authoritarian, but in spite of it, (or perhaps because of it) when she spoke everyone listened. It was this force of personality that kept the students organized in this situation.

But Takahi was not superhuman like L-Elf.

There was only so long she could go without sleep. She had tried her best. She really had. Sleep was trivial when compared to the needs of all the students. She had kept going until she had dark bags under her eyes. She swayed on her feet as if she would fall unconscious at any moment, and she nearly had several times. It had become clear to everyone Takahi needed to rest.

Takahi had not been keen on the idea.

She had fought tooth and nail against it, saying she could still keep going in spite of the growing evidence to the contrary.

There had been arguing.

A lot of arguing.

Literally hours.

Takahi could be reeaalllyy stubborn when she wanted to be, which was usually always. Had Lily and Eri not been there to counsel their good friend, things would not have gone nearly as well. In the end, they had managed to convince her to take what she claimed was a "short nap."

As soon as her head touched the bed, she was out like a light.

Hours later, it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon.

With the others taking care of more important business and Satomi leading a group in charge of clean-up on the upper level, the task of leading the students had fallen to… well, them.

More specifically, him.

Otamaya Yusuke.

The Otaku.

The guy who all his friends (except Shoko, because she was cool like that) had unanimously agreed would end up marrying one of the machines he so liked to play with.

Yusuke had no idea what to do.

Dealing with people? Not his thing.

Otamaya Yusuke had never been what one would call popular. He was just an Otaku. Some guys were good at sports. Yusuke knew more about military grade weapons than any other boy in the school (except L-Elf who didn't count because Yusuke was half-certain the guy was a cyborg). It was not exactly the type of interest that attracted many.

Which wasn't to say Yusuke wasn't friendless. He had good friends in Seiya, Toru, and the other guys at the club. With them, he laughed, build models, and had serious debates as to whether the Valvraves qualified as Real Robots or Super Robots.

Yusuke had never considered himself lacking in friends.

He was just not a people person.

He liked small groups. Some people could have all eyes on them and bask in the attention. Satomi and Shoko were very different people, but they could both work a crowd in ways he could never see himself doing. That was fine with him. He didn't regret who he was. Some people were meant to be in the spotlight. Others weren't. Different parts had different functions.

He was the engineer. He worked machines, not people. That was his function and he liked it that way. He liked who he was. It was his comfort zone.

Right now, he was as far away from his comfort zone as possible.

People were looking at him.

People. Were _looking_. At him.

For instructions.

For directions.

For guidance.

All around, the students came to him for orders. They still had plenty of things to do and for some reason, people had decided he was the one they should turn to with their questions.

Where could they find more supplies?

Where should they put the trash?

When should they start the cleaning?

How soon did he think Satomi's volunteers would finish their job?

The only reason he had managed not to fall into panic and curl into a ball was because he knew how this stuff was done. Every question they asked him was something Takahi had dealt with previously. He may not have the force of personality necessary for leadership, but he could remember facts. Like where the supplies were meant to go, how the injured were organized, and so on.

Think back. Remember. Speak.

Socialization and leadership may not be his thing but let it never be said Yusuke was not a good student.

The problem was he had done things a bit too well. Now people were starting to turn to him for all their questions, and it was not just the regular students.

It was the others.

Minori of the Student Council was listening to his words as though he was Satomi himself, and Toru and Seiya were snapping to attention the moment he opened his mouth, a far cry from the relationship they used to have.

To be honest, iIt was kind of lonely and he had only been at this less than a day. If this was leadership, Yusuke wanted none of it.

Sadly, it wasn't that simple. As much as he'd like to stand down and hide under a blanket, he realized how irresponsible that would be. For better or worse, he was doing something right. He couldn't just step down when the others still needed his help.

He could only continue… until he inevitably went way too far out of his depth and sunk.

Dimly, he wondered what Yamada would have done in this situation.

A bitter smile made its way to his face. "Thunder" was hot-headed, brash, reckless, and couldn't follow rules to save his life.

He was one of the most amazing people he had ever met.

Under normal circumstances, he would have never talked to the delinquent. Thunder's tendency for getting into fights as well as the many rumors surrounding him were enough to scare most people away. Simply put, they were in completely different social circles.

However, they were able to know each other through the many tragedies that struck the Module. In that time, Yusuke had come to admire the delinquent.

How would he deal with this situation? How would things look like if he was still here?

Yusuke snorted. What was he wondering about? Thunder would rush head-on, not doubting himself even for a second.

Unlike him.

Otamaya Yusuke had never been an optimist and recent events had done little to change that notion. He knew his limitations. He wasn't a leader. He was just filling the part for now and the problem with using a part that didn't fit was that sooner or later the part would break under pressure.

"Hey, why so gloomy?"

The question was accompanied by a friendly slap on the back. It was so gentle Yusuke was nearly knocked to the floor. The purple haired student barely managed to regain his balance in time.

Only one person in the Module had that arm strength.

Well, Yusuke thought as he adjusted his glasses, maybe L-Elf did too, but he could not see himself using the words L-Elf and friendly anywhere near each other.

Sure enough, Yusuke turned and looked up. And up.

And up.

Despite being nearly the same age, the boy was more than a head taller than Yusuke. It made for an intimidating sight.

At least it would have, had that person been anyone other than Bansho Juto. The former Minister of Transport had short yet messy brown hair and powerful muscles, visible even under his clothes. Just being near the guy made Yusuke feel self-conscious about his own scrawny build.

The teenager's face was too plain to be considered attractive but there was something undeniably friendly about it and with good reason. Despite his intimidating build, Juto was on good terms with just about everyone in the school. He was not a social butterfly like Shoko or Takahi. He went about things at his own slow pace. He didn't rush and he rarely if ever got angry. If someone needed help, he would offer it without a second thought.

He was, in a word, reliable.

The sort of guy who should be in this position instead of him.

Yusuke blinked when he realized Juto was still waiting for an answer. "No, it's nothing important. Just got lost in my thoughts for a moment there. I'm fine."

Juto frowned but didn't push.

"Okay," he said. "I brought new supplies from the storage like you wanted. Where should I put them?"

As he said this, Juto turned around so Yusuke could see the blue backpack he was carrying.

It was big.

Yusuke fought the urge to take out his glasses and clean them just to make sure he was not seeing things. How on Earth had he even managed to find a backpack that big? How hadn't he noticed it from the beginning? Yusuke was certain they could fit one or two people in that thing.

If the effort was in any way taxing for Juto, he didn't show it. His face held nothing but simple curiosity about his next set of orders.

"Put them in Room Three," Yusuke said, pointing in the direction of the room. "Leave the bag there. Watari and Yamamoto can take care of unpacking. I need you to recheck the storage again. We are going to need some clean bedsheets soon."

In an ironic twist of fate, the talents of former minister of transport were best suited for the role of pack mule.

It was by no means a small or insignificant role.

Juto could simply carry more than any regular student. A lot more. In one regular trip, Juto could carry the same amount as three students. Sending Juto to search and bring whatever they needed was just far more practical. It got things done faster and left more of their limited manpower free to perform other tasks.

Giving people the tasks that better used their strengths was just common sense.

"Got it, boss," Juto said cheerily while snapping into a salute. He turned on his heels and went about to do his job… at least he would have had he not seen Yusuke's flinch.

Yusuke couldn't help it.

People shouldn't be calling _him_ , of all people, boss.

Juto stopped and crossed his arms. "Okay, what's up?"

Yusuke blinked. "Huh?"

"Come on, go ahead. Lay it on me," the taller teen said, spreading his arms.

"Look, it's… nothing," Yusuke said as he took out his glasses and tried to clean them with his dirty shirt. He only succeeded at smudging them more. "Just tired. You know."

Juto nodded. "I do. It's been some crazy days. I get that."

Yusuke felt relief flow through his body. Good. Landmine avoided. Things could continue as they had been and hopefully, he would be able to hold until a real leader appeared.

"I also get you are full of shit."

"Huh?" Yusuke's eyebrows nearly reached his hairline.

Juto did not swear.

The guy was cordial 100% of the time. Even Haruto swore once or twice. It was rare, but it happened.

Juto didn't.

"I'm not dumb," Juto continued in a softer tone. "Not the smartest guy, but not dumb. Even if I were, you might as well have a dark cloud hovering above you. Kind of hard to miss."

Yusuke chuckled in spite of himself. "That bad?"

"I wouldn't look at myself in the mirror if I were you. Might scare yourself a bit," Juto said only half joking.

Yusuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "And here I thought I was doing a good job hiding it."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'd say the others are a bit too busy to notice. Bullet wounds and hours without sleep will do that to most people."

"Except you," Yusuke pointed. Sure enough, Juto barely had any bags under his eyes.

"I'm a helper," Juto said without a hint of boasting. "It's what I do… and I might have sneaked an hour of sleep when no one was watching. But seriously, lay it on me. You try to hold things in, and it's going to end bad."

"I…" Yusuke snuck a furtive glance around to make sure no one was listening in on them. "I'm not cut out for this."

Juto crossed his arms. "I don't follow."

"I shouldn't be the one giving the orders," Yusuke replied. "I mean, there are so many other people who should be doing this instead of me. I am only here because Satomi and L-Elf are busy and we couldn't make Takahi stay up 24/7."

Then there was Shoko.

Which was a really confusing subject he really didn't want to think about right now, because before shit hit the fan, Shoko had been the nicest person he had ever met. Thinking about everything that had happened just made his head hurt.

"Point is, I'm just here to fill the part and I don't really fit," he said.

Yusuke felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was still in the exact same situation as before, but sharing it with someone had somehow made him feel better. Besides, maybe, just maybe, Juto would offer to take over for him. The guy was definitely more qualified for this stuff than him and he should see Yusuke was definitely not cut out for this.

"That's it?"

"Huh?"

Yusuke was saying that a lot lately.

"I mean, I was kind of expecting something more serious, you know?" Juto explained, shrugging. "This is kind of underwhelming, man."

"…if I wasn't so tired I'd be really offended right now," Yusuke said. "I just opened up to you about important stuff."

"Don't take it the wrong way," Juto said, "but… well, haven't you noticed the good fantastic job you're doing."

Huh?

"Look around you," Juto said, waving his large arm. "Seriously, take a look."

Yusuke did. The wounded were lying on the mattresses the students had dragged to the large room and put on the floor. The few students who were in good health, for a certain definition of the word, were all hard at work. Moving around supplies, scavenging for food in other parts of the Module, administering medicines, and so on. There was barely any time for rest. More than one had dark bags under his eyes. In fact, it was easier to count the ones who didn't.

"You notice anything special about them?" Juto asked. "I mean, anything out of the ordinary. Besides the part where we all look like war refugees, I mean."

"Nothing. Everyone is just doing their jobs."

"Exactly," Juto said as though Yusuke had just imparted vital wisdom.

"…I am not following."

"Well, wouldn't it be normal for us to panic and run around like headless chickens? Think about it. Remember what happened after that one guy decided to do his Moses impression? Remember the black out later? Remember what happened both those times? We panicked. A lot. It's surprising we didn't kill ourselves."

"Yes," Yusuke said, still not getting where Juto was going with this. "But we had people to help us. We had Shoko. And Kibukawa-sensei. And Satomi. And all the others."

"Yeah, and this time we have you," Juto said, pointing at him as if the was the most obvious thing in the world.

Yusuke blinked.

Thrice.

"What? No, I didn't do anything. Takahi was the one who reined in the other students. I'm just trying to keep things calm until she wakes up."

"Yeah, Takahi did calm everyone down. The girl knows how to make people listen. Queen Bee of the school and all that," Juto said, nodding. "You came in after."

Yusuke nodded, glad the taller boy was finally making sense. "Yeah, so you agree-"

"But," Juto said, interrupting. "While Takahi got everyone to listen and decided on the tasks, you're the one who improved efficiency. You gave everyone a job that suited what they could do. You allocated the resources. You distributed the labor. So yeah, not bad for a guy that's not a leader."

"W-wait," Yusuke said, "That was just simple stuff. Anyone could have done that."

"Yeah, no," Juto said, shaking his head. "I couldn't have done that. I'm no good with calculations. It's a thing."

Mental math was for people who did not have calculators. That was Juto's personal motto.

"Why do you think everyone started to listen to you?" Juto said.

"Well… I mean… I was there and…" Yusuke struggled to think an answer.

"Yeah, and I was there and everyone else was there. Notice how no one is asking me for orders in spite of being a former Minister. No one is asking Minori for orders either. But you? You say smart things. It's your thing. People have noticed. That's why they are listening. That's why they look to you," Juto said.

"All this order right now?" Juto said, waving an arm around. "That's on you."

To this Yusuke had nothing to say.

"You are doing fine. Don't you remember what you used to say? All successful people are Otaku or something like that," Juto said, giving him a friendly pat on the back that once again nearly knocked him to the ground.

Was Juto right? Had he been worrying so much about making the wrong move all this time he didn't notice when he had made the right ones?

Right here and now, they were still alive. They were tired and wounded, sure. But they were still here. They were recovering. Things were getting better.

If Thunder were here right now, would he dwell on the negatives or would he be emboldened by the positives?

Yusuke smiled. That was an easy-to-answer question.

They could do this.

He could actually do this.

"Thanks," Yusuke said after a moment of silence. "I guess… I needed to hear that. I haven't been feeling all that confident lately."

"I'd wager most of us aren't all that confident at the moment either," Juto commented, shrugging as if the whole thing was no big deal. "Even me."

"You sure could fool me," Yusuke said.

"It's my winning smile. It inspires people," Juto said, drawing a smile out of Yusuke. "Now, if you're all done sulking, I have some supplies to drop off."

Yusuke blinked. Right, the stupidly huge bag.

Which Juto had been carrying throughout their entire conversation without any sign of strain.

"Isn't that heavy?" Yusuke couldn't help but ask.

"What? This little thing? Nah, I can handle it just fine," the tall teenager said as he walked away.

Yusuke just stared as the former Minister of Transport walked away.

Their school was filled with all sorts of amazing people.

Yusuke smiled. That was another reason why he could be confident. Even if he wasn't the best part of the job, the other parts more than made up for it. They were all sharing the burden.

If they were together, well, making this work definitely wasn't out of the question.

xXx

While the students worked hard to normalize their situation, a different type of battle was taking place in the Module.

Renbokouji Akira typed furiously as she launched attack against attack, program after program, virus after virus.

All for naught.

All her probes came up empty. The programming algorithms she was so proud of were all torn apart without a care. The viruses she had spent so many sleepless nights working on were defeated without difficulty. The hacking potential of Unit-VI which could bypass the best defenses the world's security systems had to offer combined with her genius hacking skills was being beaten.

For the first time in her life, she was losing in the digital realm.

As she gritted her teeth and downed far more caffeine than was healthy for a girl her age (or any age for the matter) there was only one thought running through her mind.

Pino's brother was a giant jerk.

A big, mean, blue-haired jerk.

She had tried to be nice. She really had.

Prue was an uncertain existence for Module 77. An unwanted and unasked present they had found waiting for them in Unit-1. Pino had enthusiastically introduced anyone who entered her cockpit to her 'onii-chan.'

There had been some questioning from L-Elf and Kibukawa-sensei somewhere in there but ultimately there wasn't much anyone could do about it.

They were stuck with him.

Prue had remained a small, silent, brooding AI throughout it all. Not speaking unless spoken to, and even then monosyllables and grunts were the best one could expect from him.

A textbook cold and silent bishounen.

An overdone archetype, in Akira's opinion.

Besides, the Module already had L-Elf.

However, everything changed after the attack.

Pino had been knocked out and they were at a loss as to how to deal with her condition. Even if they did it wouldn't matter. Prue would not let them anywhere near Pino. The… guide program? AI? Akira's mind struggled to decide a good term. Just what were Prue and Pino?

She shrugged. A question for another time.

Regardless, if Prue was reluctant to socialize with them before, he was actively avoiding them now. To be fair to Prue, he barely knew them. He only had Pino's word to go on.

Then they had been unable to protect her from the attack.

All in all, not the best first impression.

In an unusual display of socialization, Akira had tried to reach out to Prue. Seeing someone lock himself up and actively flee from all human contact struck a chord in her.

Sure, she still spent more time inside her Valvrave than outside, but she could talk to others now. She had made friends. She could even talk normally now… as long as she made sure to give herself one second to go over her words before opening her mouth. All because Shoko… Her brother and others had reached out to her.

So, she wanted to try reaching out to Prue.

She had already done most of the tasks L-Elf had given her. She had secured the money they needed. They would be able to purchase food and other supplies without worries now.

What little tasks remained were easy enough and would not occupy much of her time.

She could afford to try her hand at socializing.

How hard could drawing someone out of his shell be?

As it turned out, it was really hard.

It had started out with a small probe, a message.

Prue had promptly blocked it.

Things had escalated from there until it became a full-blown cyber battle.

The Rune Lifeform inhabiting digital space proved himself to be more than a match for the young hacker. It helped that unlike most of her foes lately, Prue could and did use Runes. Manipulating them was second nature to the Magius. While Akira unknowingly used the Rune-powered abilities of Unit-6 to enhance her hacking, Prue used Runes to directly control the digital space around him.

Furthermore, Prue did not have to do pesky little things like type on a keyboard. Prue only needed to think. The extra speed gave him the advantage in any programming battle.

The difference between the two was all too clear.

Frankly, Prue wished the human would get a clue.

The only reason he even remained here was out of respect for his sister's wishes and her condition. He could not afford to leave her alone in her state.

There was also the lack of a proper vessel to move in but Prue would rather not dwell on that.

Regardless, he was the only one who could provide the care Pino needed. In fact, he was the only reason she had not yet perished due to Rune loss.

Sharing his Runes so freely would have posed a danger to him under other circumstances, but Cain had provided him a great supply before that fateful battle.

He could heal his sister. He just needed time, peace and quiet.

The human kept interfering with that. He squashed all her attempts and she still kept coming.

His eyebrow twitched.

Fine!

He would show her how futile it was for her to challenge him.

Somehow the thought of voicing his annoyance remained out of his reach.

Much like the thought of simply walking up to Unit-I and talking eluded Akira's mind.

Amid frowns and gritted teeth, the cyber battle continued.

xXx

L-Elf was a busy person.

Several students would beg to differ if they were present. Some would say he had left the student population to fend for themselves. After all, the average student had barely seen a glimpse of him throughout these troubling times. A few would even go as far as to say this was his revenge for the way they had sold him out to Dorssia.

They would only be half right.

True. L-Elf had a grudge. A big one. He did not trust himself to be fully rational when it came to face-to-face dealings with the other students, so he avoided them. He did not interact with them unless absolutely needed.

At the same time, he was genuinely busy. Module 77's status was vulnerable. The situation on Earth and space had taken everyone's eyes away from them while various players scrambled for power, but that situation would not last forever. The world's eyes would eventually return to them.

The existence of Kamitsuki and the Valvraves ensured that.

In order for Module 77 to survive, it needed power and allies. The Valvraves needed to be repaired. New weapons needed to be acquired. People from other JIOR territories would need to be attracted.

In order to realize his objectives, L-Elf had already started to move. He had called in old acquaintances. Arms dealers. Mercenaries. Unscrupulous but resourceful mechanics. Contacts in other nations. All of them would be needed for the future.

For Lieselotte. For Haruto.

It was a tiring job. One no one other than he could do. It was not the longest period he had gone without sleep, but it was certainly the most tiring one. He had spent hours sitting in front of a screen, going from one video conference to the next one.

Shooting people was so much easier than playing politics.

He had just finished negotiating a small deal in order to get a shipment of food delivered to the Module when a video call arrived. L-Elf was sorely tempted to ignore it until he saw who the caller was.

Sighing before schooling his expression into perfect neutrality, he answered the call.

"Kriemhild," he greeted as the woman appeared on his screen. Neither his voice nor his expression showed a hint of the exhaustion he felt. As much as he wanted to ignore this call, the Royalists were the only solid ally the Module had. Without them, their situation would be hard to manage, even for him.

Politics. He truly hated them.

"I was not expecting your call."

"L-Elf, I apologize for the suddenness, but something urgent has happened," she said. "There are some images you need to see."

Even as she spoke, L-Elf could already see the file transfer being done through the secure connection provided by the Royalists.

It took all his self-control not to swear once he opened it.

He clicked from one image to the next.

These were… these were Valvraves.

No, he corrected himself as he took a closer look. They were Kagerou. The color was white instead of black. Their armaments were slightly different but there was no denying he had seen these machines before.

He had first come into contact with them shortly after Cain had stolen Unit-2. They were remote controlled, mass-produced versions of the Valvrave. Unlike the Valvraves, the Kagerou did not require their pilot to give up their humanity which meant anyone could pilot them.

It had been a surprising find, tempered only by their small number. Module 77 only had two of them. He had searched, of course. The moment he found out about their existence, L-Elf had looked through the few files that had not been deleted by the scientists of the Valvrave project. He had searches conducted in every nook and cranny of the Module. Alas, there were no more of the machines to be found.

A pity, he would not need to negotiate with the Royalists for Kirschbaum if he had Kagerou at his disposal.

Regardless, the two Kagerou and their two pilots, Ohta and Hinomoto, had been a welcome, if secret, addition to his plans.

He couldn't have the Valvraves leaving the Module after they arrived at the Moon.

The remote-controlled Kagerou no one knew he had were a different story. There were, after all, certain enemies that needed to be dealt with even if the Module was supposedly safe on neutral ground. With the eyes of Dorssia locked on the Module, the Kagerou had been free to do as they pleased within their limits.

"I assume you notice the similarities?" Kriemhild asked after a while.

"When was this?" L-Elf asked as he opened an audio-less video file.

"A few hours ago," came the reply from Kriemhild. "Whitesteel was attacked by at least three of these units."

L-Elf looked up from the pictures. "At least?"

"The units were using a highly advanced stealth system which hid them from sight and radar," Kriemhild explained. "It is impossible to know how many of them there were."

"Like the Phantom?" L-Elf asked. His question yielded an unexpected reward. He had the chance to see a confused look on the face of the normally unflappable Kriemhild.

H-Neun would have liked to see it, L-Elf mused.

"The Phantom was invisible to sight?" Kriemhild half asked, half stated. Like someone who just had the ending of a mystery book she was a few clues away from solving spoiled.

The truth dawned on L-Elf.

Of course.

They hadn't known the Phantom could be invisible. To them, it had been a highly classified project with technology that allowed it to completely avoid radar detection. The Royalists lacked the ability to track it underwater so the ship never had to use its higher functions against them.

"L-Elf, tell me more about this stealth system," Kriemhild said.

L-Elf frowned. He had accidentally given away some good information for free. Nevertheless, he complied. Sharing this information would go a long way towards earning trust which would help in future negotiations. L-Elf told Kriemhild what he knew about the technology while making sure not to mention the Phantom they had managed to secure on their return trip from Earth.

The Magius had been unable to retrieve it after they forced Dorssia out of the Module. It needed a couple of repairs, but L-Elf was certain they could get it up and running again. One never knew when an invisible ship would come in handy, after all, and when it did, it was better if no one knew you had one.

"I see," Kriemhild said once he finished explaining. "Then it is safe to assume this is the same technology. That would mean the Council is likely involved in this."

"It is more than likely," L-Elf said, drawing Kriemhild's gaze to him. "Just a few days ago we were victims of an attack that used a similar methodology."

He and A-Drei had debated whether to keep the attack a secret but ultimately decided to include it in A-Drei's next report. With a few select details, such as H-Neun's appearance, omitted for the benefit of everyone.

"You can read A-Drei's report for details," L-Elf went on. "Suffice to say, an intruder stole information from the labs and escaped. Our defense systems were unable to track his machine."

"The stealth system," Kriemhild deduced. "And only days later, these machines show up to attack Whitesteel."

"The timing is too convenient," L-Elf said. Convenient for him that is. "It may be a coincidence, but I doubt it. The machines' similarities to the Valvrave are too strong. The development of the Kirschbaum in only three months is impressive. However the development of an entirely different model, even if the projects ran concurrently, is highly unlikely unless…"

"Unless they did not develop these machines," Kriemhild finished for him, deducing where he was heading. "Unless these machines were already built. You think JIOR developed them in the past and the Council found about them when they stole information from your labs?"

"It is a possibility," L-Elf said, his tone making it clear he thought it was more than that.

"One we cannot discard at any rate," Kriemhild agreed. "At a minimum, we must assume the Council is taking a more active approach."

"After being exposed to the world, it is not surprising they have chosen more direct methods," L-Elf said. An organization without flexibility was one doomed to failure.

"Indeed," Kriemhild said. "I will report this information to my superiors. However, while the Council is the most likely suspect, I am certain you understand the significance of this call."

Of course, he did. It was the first thing she had remarked on. The similarities to the Valvraves.

L-Elf fought back a frown. Machines similar to Valvraves attacked a Dorssian military base. He knew how that could be interpreted.

"Do you think we are responsible?" He asked. Both understood the 'you' in that sentence referred to the Royalists as a whole. It would be troublesome if their allies thought they were plotting against them.

"It is a possibility." Kriemhild did not bother denying it. "However, the information you have given me combined with A-Drei's report should help direct attention elsewhere."

"That is good to hear," L-Elf said. "Have you discerned the cause of the attack?"

"They attacked and left as quickly as they came. If there was a deeper purpose, it is unknown to us," came the quick reply from Kriemhild. "Most likely, they just wanted to show their military power to garner support while damaging our reputation."

Kriemhild and L-Elf stared at each other.

"That may be the case," L-Elf said, after a moment of silence. "If there is nothing else to discuss, I must attend other matters. I will be sure to send you a report on the Phantom's abilities as soon as possible through A-Drei."

"Very well, I will not keep you occupied any longer," Kriemhild said before cutting communications, leaving L-Elf to ponder.

She was, of course, lying about something.

The images were too genuine to be false and the Royalists had little to gain by faking this type of attack. Nevertheless, he would have Akira look into it, both the pictures and the information about the attack. The search may yield some useful information.

The true nature of the attack for example.

L-Elf was certain Kriemhild knew what the Magius had wanted. Whitesteel may be notorious, but its strategic value was not high enough for the Council to reveal its hand in such a manner. Kagerou armed with stealth systems could have landed a crippling blow to the Royalists if used elsewhere. Now the Royalists would be expecting them and adjusting their strategies accordingly. No, there was something valuable enough in Whitesteel for the Council to deem it worth using their newly acquired weapons on it.

If it was the Council at all. L-Elf frowned as he considered the options.

After all, the Kagerou was not a machine created by Dorssia or the Council.

It was a machine created by JIOR. Dorssia may have subjugated JIOR for months, but Dorssia was currently in the middle of a civil war. He was willing to bet their hold on some JIOR territories ranged from tenuous to non-existent.

With a weakened Dorssia, remnants of JIOR's military force (which the country always claimed not to have), could have found the hidden Kagerou and formed a resistance of some sort. There was, after all, no reason why JIOR would distinguish between Royalists and Loyalists in Dorssia.

Given the current state of the world, it would not be surprising if the remnants of the old JIOR became their enemy.

L-Elf toyed with the idea for a moment before dismissing it along with five similar ones. No, while the remnants of JIOR were definitely a problem they would have to deal with in the future if they wanted their country to succeed, the Council was the more likely option in this case.

H-Neun's attack was simply too convenient. L-Elf did not have enough information to grasp how everything fit together yet, but his instincts told him his old comrade was involved in this.

However, there was a silver lining.

L-Elf allowed himself a small smile as he rose from his seat.

There were more Kagerou out there.

He thought he had lost the machines, but JIOR had made more. It was possible there were more Kagerou hidden within other territories in JIOR. He would have to consult Kibukawa for possible places. However, if they could find just a few, it would go a long way towards increasing their country's military power.

After all, Kirschbaum could not be relied on forever.

xXx

L-Elf was hiding something.

Those were Kriemhild's thoughts as she cut off communications.

Kriemhild was one of the few people who could say they knew L-Elf with some degree of certainty. At least, she was pretty sure she did until his link to Princess Lieselotte was revealed. She had tried going back through his records once his real name was known to her but had found little. As far as she could tell, there had not been any meaningful contact between the two, which made his daring rescue attempt all the more puzzling.

Regardless, even when acting out of character, L-Elf was nothing if not competent. L-Elf was Cain's finest product. He would do whatever it took to achieve his goal.

That he would hide information from her was only to be expected.

The question was, what was he lying about?

She doubted he had something to do with the attack. L-Elf was not stupid. He was entirely too dependent on their alliance to risk something like that. Not yet at least.

Which left her with the Magius attack on Module 77 and his information about the Phantom.

Times like these, she wished they had sent someone other than A-Drei. He was entirely too loyal to L-Elf to be of any use to the Royalists.

Almost without thinking, her hand drifted back to the note in her pocket.

The note a supposedly dead man had left me, she thought, frowning.

There were entirely too many unknowns and too few clues, but she would get to the bottom of this.

No matter what.

xXx

xXx

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this was going to be one chapter. However, it ended up being too long and I separated it into two interludes. The next one should be up in a few days.
> 
> Also, just in case, Juto is not an OC. Seriously. Look him up. He's barely there but he's there.
> 
> Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a comment.


	9. Interlude: Magius

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Valvrave.

xXx

Interlude: Magius

xXx

Something moved under the Atlantic Ocean.

Something large.

Aquatic creatures of all types sensed the disturbance in the water and swam away to escape the coming behemoth, yet there was nothing to be seen. The radar of a ship belonging to any of the three main powers of the world would have revealed nothing.

The technology to locate a Phantom had not yet been invented by humans.

This particular Phantom was easily five times larger than a normal one, if not more. However, size was not the only difference.

A regular Phantom had a single purpose: to harvest and collect Runes. All of its functions were geared towards that purpose. It lacked heavy weapons, preferring to rely on its stealth system. It always used the minimum number of crew members necessary top operate it, and living quarters were small to create more space for Rune Harvesting.

However, this one was a fortress. The outside was heavily armed, ready to engage any enemy unfortunate enough to cross its path.

The inside was a palace.

While the living quarters in a normal Phantom barely had enough space for a small bed, this one had luxurious rooms with ornate furniture and large four-poster beds. They were not accommodations meant for mere grunts.

This Phantom was meant to house The Council of 101.

The construction of this vessel had started out almost on a whim. The Council's ancestral home had served them well for centuries. They had no need to relocate. The idea alone was laughable. Most did not know of their existence and those who did would not dare attack them.

Still, the more prudent among them had pointed out the need for alternatives and an extravagant project was set into motion.

Thus, _Valhalla_ was born.

A mobile, untraceable, heavily armed fortress equipped with all the luxuries their vast wealth could afford.

It was never meant to be used.

Yet here they were.

The headquarters of the Council was no more.

Jeffrey Anderson, President of ARUS, had wasted no time. He had capitalized on the chaos and scandal and launched a series of airstrikes on their base.

He was not supposed to be able to do that.

Jeffrey Anderson was not supposed to know the true location of their headquarters. Jeffrey Anderson and his predecessors may have set foot in the Council's headquarters but the Council had always taken measures to prevent them from ever learning their true location.

However, humans had their ways.

ARUS, Dorssia, and JIOR. For decades, those nations had done their best to gather as much information about the Magius as they could, and their multigenerational effort had reaped some rewards. Jeffrey Anderson had gleaned the Council's true location over a year ago but had made sure to keep it a secret.

It was not like he had plans to do anything with the information back then. The Council was too strong to be opposed.

But not anymore.

The attack had been swift and merciless. The ancient castle the Council used was reduced to nothing but rubble in less than a minute.

However, he had acted too late.

Humans had their ways, but so did the Magius.

The Council had already evacuated.

The Phantom they thought they would never use had saved them all and given them a proper base of operations. It was galling in many ways. To be cornered in this way by a human was unacceptable.

Still, it was not the first time Magius had to deal with hostile humans. In the end, the Magius would prevail like they always did. Everyone in the ship firmly believed those words.

Only Magius could shape history.

And the Council was already moving.

Deep inside _Valhalla_ , an important meeting was taking place. It was not a full Council meeting. This meeting was smaller yet just as important, if not more.

Six people were gathered around a table. Although they wore the standard Council robes, they were far from being normal members.

Not everyone in the Council held the same level of power. For a group as large as the Council, deciding things through consensus would be a long and tedious process. It was a big world and even now not all Magius were gathered in the same place.

Magius had lives and with them came a variety of duties, circumstances, and obligations.

Thus, among the members of Council, a select few were chosen by popular vote. They were the High Council. They were the leaders of their race. They were the most powerful men and women on the planet.

They were the Golden Seven.

For this meeting, they were missing one of their number. Mirko's unique circumstances were known to the group and, though it was a pity, they would have to conduct the meeting without him. In fact, the state of their missing member was a factor in the current conversation.

"It would seem," one said. "Mirko's rescue was carried out successfully."

"Pleasant news? Isn't that a nice change of pace?" Another Council member replied. His voice carried all the brashness of youth and in spite of his bulky robes it was easy to see his build did not belong to a fully-grown man. "Guess keeping the human alive bore some fruit, eh?"

"You should know better, Ivar," another one said, scoffing. Unlike Ivar, this one spoke with a rough, aged baritone. What little parts of his face were visible revealed a straight jaw and a few age lines. "While tragic, Mirko's predicament could have been solved without their help. The human may be a military asset, but that alone is not reason enough to keep him alive."

There was no need for him to explain who he was referring to. It was something every person in the room understood.

After all, the real subject of this meeting was Soichi Tokishima.

"You speak true, Pontus," another Councilman said, his voice calm and measured. "Thus, it is a good thing we are not keeping him alive solely due to the military applications of his research. Soichi Tokishima has other uses."

"Even you would defend him, Marut?" Pontus asked, exasperation creeping into his voice. "The man is an abomination."

"The man is brilliant," Marut replied without joy or anger, just simple certainty. "His achievements in Rune Theory are unlike any we have seen before."

"Achievements? We have already improved on his weapon design. The Kirschbaum and Dainsleif are proof of it. His machines may turn children into pale mockeries of us, but did not the first of us once cast aside their flesh with science? What use is there in the man's inventions?" Pontus asked, his voice growing in force with each sentence.

"Our ancestors had evolved into beings capable of Rune Manipulation long before they cast aside their bodies. Dr. Tokishima found a way to ascend mere humans into an existence similar to us. It would be folly not to study the technology," Marut replied. In contrast to Pontus, his voice was perfectly even.

For Pontus, Marut's complete lack of reaction was almost exasperating. Regardless, Marut was right and everyone in the room knew it. Soichi Tokishima had effectively bypassed thousands of years of evolution with the Valvrave project.

"Furthermore, I do not believe there is any need to mention what he did with his son," Marut added.

The moment the words left his lips it was as if all sound had been sucked out of the room. The revival of Tokishima Haruto was a controversial subject in the Council. It had caught them unprepared for a variety of reasons.

The Council had tasked Soichi Tokishima with recreating the Valvraves.

What they really wanted was for him to recreate the technology that allowed humans to ascend. While they had managed to improve Unit 2 with their technology, this one process had eluded their scientists. Thus, they would have Tokishima recreate the technology, research how he did it, and get all they could out of his research before disposing of him.

Thus, when Soichi Tokishima requested an operative to be sent to Module 77 in order to harvest Runes from Unit-1 to speed up his job, the Council had allowed it.

The idea of him reviving his son had never crossed their minds.

It was simply impossible.

Runes were used and consumed. A Magius without Runes died. That was an iron-clad Rule.

Pontus was no scientist, but he did know what Soichi Tokishima had done went against everything they knew about Runes. It was an abomination.

For that reason, Soichi Tokishima was a dangerous man who could not be allowed to live. For that reason, Soichi Tokishima was an existence that could not be tolerated.

If only he could make everyone else understand that.

Ivar cleared his throat. "Eh, if you two are done with your little debate… yeah, sorry Pontus, but I'm siding with Marut here. You don't kill the goose until you're sure it doesn't have more golden eggs to give."

"You speak to me with a human fable, Ivar?"

The Magius with the youngest host in the room shrugged. "If the shoe fits."

"I must say I agree with the others," a female spoke up.

"Why?" Pontus said, turning to face her. "Truly, why? Why, Esfir? Give me one good reason?"

Esfir did not flinch away from his gaze.

"'Why?' He asks," she said, throwing her hands into the air, exasperated. "You damn well know why! How many children have you buried already?"

Pontus flinched as if struck.

Magius could not reproduce.

Not while in human bodies, at least. It was possible for them to have children by mating as humans, but those children would only be human, lacking any ability to manipulate Runes.

Like all humans, they would die.

Try as they might, their numbers would not grow.

"Let's not pretend our interest in Tokishima is anything else," Esfir said, her gaze sweeping the room. "We lost many of our numbers during that fateful crash. We kept losing our brethren through the centuries which preceded the founding of the Council, and we have already begun to lose our brothers and sisters once more."

Esfir stopped, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

"We need him. You all know it," she said, sounding tired. "Besides, should he prove too dangerous, we can remove him. The military power we granted him is of little concern."

After all, Soichi Tokishima was just human.

That was the mentality of everyone at the table. Regardless of how smart or capable the man was, he had human limitations. Thus, he was ultimately no threat to the Council.

Everyone but Pontus thought that way.

The Magius frowned. They were too blinded by the positives to see how big a threat he truly was. With Esfir now adding her support, that made three votes against him. Furthermore, Mirko was gone which meant his vote would go to…

"I believe further debate is unneeded," said the man sitting at the head of the table. At once silence settled over the room.

Just as the Golden Seven were chosen by the votes of the members of the Council, the Golden Seven voted among themselves to elevate one of their own to the position of Master of the Council. If one or more members were missing from a High Council meeting their votes would go to the Master of the Council. Despite the grandiose title, that was the only real power the position held.

The position existed because it needed to exist. With seven people in a room, arguments could get out of hand at times. The Master of the Council was in charge of making sure everything proceeded peacefully.

In other words, the Master of the Council was an overly glorified peacemaker.

However, while the Golden Seven had changed slightly through the centuries, the Master of the Council had not.

When he spoke, all listened.

"Both sides have valid points," he said. "It is true Tokishima Soichi is a dangerous existence, but the possibility of increasing our numbers, of finally having true children is not something we can overlook."

The Master of the Council brought his hands together.

"Shall we put the matter to vote?"

xXx

For H-Neun, Haruto, and Nao, the flight back home was awkward on several levels.

Once Whitesteel was less than a dot on the horizon, the reality of their actions crashed down on them.

They had helped break a Magius out of prison.

They had done a service to the secret organization that had controlled the world from the shadows and committed many unspeakable acts.

They had little choice. Their lives were on the line.

Still, the victory left a bitter taste in their mouths.

For some more than others.

H-Neun had seen a monster tear apart and kill his countrymen. He wanted to clear his mind, to think of something else, anything else, but the images kept repeating themselves over and over in his mind.

Nao's typing was not helping.

"Could you stop that?" H-Neun asked, turning his neck just enough to face Nao. The rest of his body was sprawled over his seat.

Both were in the cockpit of the Phantom given to them by the Council for this mission. While H-Neun had barely moved since sitting, Nao was fast at work on the consoles.

"Why are you even doing that anyway?" H-Neun asked after Nao failed to answer.

Nao ignored him again, too focused on her work.

H-Neun decided to channel Q-Vier.

The childish part, not the psychotic one.

"Hey! Hello! Heeelllooooo! Anyone home? What are you doing? Come on, tell me, tell me! Teeellll meee!"

"I'm trying!" Nao cut in, irritated. "To focus here."

"On what?"

The pink-haired girl reminded herself that strangling an ally would be wrong. More importantly, the person she wanted to strangle was a trained soldier and she wasn't.

"I'm trying to locate our coordinates," she replied. "If I can track our path back there is a chance that…"

Nao trailed off as H-Neun broke into laughter.

"Oh, that's just adorable," H-Neun said with more viciousness than he intended. "No really, go on. Use the ship given to us by our "employers" to try to one-up them. Go ahead. I'll wait. Well, I won't, because you'll be sitting there forever without making progress."

He was right. Although the two were in the cockpit, their presence was unneeded. The ship flew on auto-pilot. Their target destination and return route had been programmed before they set a foot on the ship. It was not a ship meant to be flown by its pilots. As such, many of the devices made to help the pilot know his exact coordinates were missing.

However, Nao would not be deterred so easily. "How would you know? If we don't try, we'll never figure out how to escape."

"Oh, I do know," H-Neun said as he stood up and walked next to her. "But hey, don't just take my word for it. How about you take the controls?"

As H-Neun pointed to the W-shaped control yoke, Nao wondered why she was noticing it just now.

"Just grab hold of it and fly us all to safety. I am sure that sounds simple enough," H-Neun said, circling around her.

Slowly, Nao reached out. It sounded so simple she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

Why hadn't she noticed it?

Then she realized the truth.

Her hands were inches away. Yet try as she might, she could not close the gap. Her body would not respond to her.

"H-how?" She asked, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Oh, that's easy enough to answer," H-Neun said. "You have the answer on the back of your neck."

Nao's eyes went wide. Her hands automatically reached for the Rune Absorber Soichi Tokishima had placed on the back of her neck. It was a small thing; so small she often forgot it was there in the first place.

"You won't be able to take control of the ship. You won't be able to memorize any landmarks. If you do get your hands on some coordinates, you will not be able to understand them. If you try to speak about what you know, the words will not form. If you try to write it, you'll just get gibberish."

H-Neun had already tried it all.

"But you thought you knew better," H-Neun said, shrugging. "Who knows? In a better world, our captors would have been total _morons_."

Nao stood up, face red. "What are you being such an ass?"

"Well, it's been something of a bad day, in case you haven't noticed, what with being forced to kill my countrymen and what not," H-Neun said, after pretending to think about the question. "Not that you'd care about them, of course."

"What are you talking about?" Nao asked, frowning.

"You know what I am talking about," H-Neun said, heat entering his voice in spite of himself. "Did you even hesitate when you fired that weapon at a base full of people?"

"Full of soldiers," Nao corrected.

"Oh, and I suppose that makes it all better," H-Neun said, rolling his eyes. "They were just soldiers who obviously don't have families waiting for them back home. Who obviously don't have friends or people they care about. That'd be silly. Do you even feel bad about it? Nah, let's be honest here. Neither of you does. They were just Dorssians after all. Business as usual."

Nao went silent for a moment, her body trembling with barely suppressed rage.

She knew H-Neun was not entirely wrong. Dorssia had been synonymous with enemy for some time now. Every student in Sakimori had learned to hate them as they lost family and friends to the invasion.

While working for L-Elf, Nao had killed her fair share of Dorssians.

She didn't regret it.

Yet…

"What about the people you have killed?" Nao shot back. "How many of them were JIORians? Innocent people who knew nothing of the Valvrave project and lived in peace until you came. How many?"

How many of them belonged to Module 77?

"You have already killed innocents. Don't pretend you haven't!" Nao said. "And don't try to take it out on me because for once you happened to give a damn!"

With those words, Nao stormed out of the room before H-Neun could stop her. The teenager punched the wall in frustration before letting himself fall down on his seat.

She wasn't wrong.

He wasn't a saint. Under Cain, he had done many things, horrible things. He had killed men, women, and children.

He had done things that made what happened to Whitesteel look downright pleasant.

For Dorssia.

Always for Dorssia.

He was far from happy at what the Council had forced him to do. He could say he had no choice but he knew better. In the end, he had chosen to live and betray his country rather than to die a loyal man.

He was angry. At himself. At the Council. At everything. He needed to hit something. He needed to lash out.

Nao had been a convenient target to vent

She hadn't deserved it.

H-Neun let out a bitter laugh. That conversation had gone horribly wrong.

The only comfort he could take was that at least Haruto was having a more awkward flight than him.

xXx

Haruto was in an awkward situation.

Chancellor Amadeus was on their ship.

Walking. Talking.

Free.

In front of him.

The man had invited Haruto into his room for tea as soon as he had left his Kagerou. Now, they were sitting in front of each other with a table and a steaming tea kettle in between them.

Haruto was not sure how he felt about that.

Scratch that, he knew exactly how he felt about that. The man was a Magius, a member of The Council of 101.

The organization behind Dorssia and all the attacks on Module 77.

The organization who had killed many of his friends.

In front of him was the man who had ordered the public execution of Rukino-san.

Haruto clenched his fists under the table as he glared at the man. His talk with Lieselotte and her desire for peace and coexistence seemed so distant now.

"Tokishima Haruto," Amadeus said.

"Chancellor," Haruto replied, offering him a nod. His eyes never left the chancellor's face.

It was remarkable, Haruto thought. Amadeus looked nothing like the monster he was.

Of course, the same could be said of him.

"I have been looking forward to meeting you," The chancellor said.

"What for?" Haruto asked with as little hostility as he could. Unfortunately, he had never been good when it came to controlling his emotions.

"It is quite simple, really," Amadeus said, tone annoyingly placid. "I believe there is much we can learn from each other."

"How can you even say that after all the attacks on Module 77?" Haruto snapped at him.

To his credit, Amadeus did not react to the heat in his words. "As I am sure you have noticed, circumstances have changed. Surely you can see how this could be beneficial to you. For example, you must have many questions about the type of existence you have become."

Haruto was silent for nearly a minute.

"Fine."

Amadeus smiled. It was thin, polite, and almost weak. Haruto couldn't decide if it was fake or if the chancellor just didn't smile that often.

"I'm told JIORians enjoy tea," Amadeus said, motioning to the steaming tea kettle.

"I prefer coffee," Haruto said.

With cream.

"I will make sure to keep it in mind for the next time," Amadeus said, not looking the least bit offended. The certainty with which he had implied there would be a next time did not sit well with Haruto.

Amadeus served himself a cup then did the same for Haruto. He brought the cup to his lips and took a sip before speaking.

"I will be blunt, Tokishima. How much do you know about us? About the Magius?" He asked.

Haruto thought for a moment before answering. He could lie, but there was little point in it. He did not know enough to lie about.

"You are aliens," Haruto said. Months ago, he would have felt silly the moment the words left his mouth. "You crashed on Earth many years ago and were forced to live among humans. Eventually, you formed the Council."

Amadeus nodded. "An apt description, if missing several details. Tokishima, to understand what you have become you must understand the Council and to understand the Council you must know our history, the history of the Magius."

Amadeus took another sip of tea before continuing. "As I am sure you have noticed, we possess powers beyond the grasp of humans. You share some of them such as the ability to regenerate."

Haruto nodded but did not volunteer any extra information.

"And, of course, the ability to take over lesser organisms," Amadeus added. Haruto frowned at his choice of words.

"Do you know why?" Amadeus asked, staring at Haruto with unusual intensity. "Do you know what the source of your abilities is?"

This time, it was Haruto who took a sip from his cup as he tried to think of an appropriate answer. He knew. Maybe not the exact mechanics, but he did understand the root of his powers.

"It is Runes, isn't it?"

Amadeus smiled the same thin smile again.

"Correct," he said. "Runes. Elementary Particles of Information. I am impressed JIOR managed to figure out that much. Of course, that is still an incomplete understanding. In many ways, you and your comrades are an unfortunate existence, Tokishima."

Haruto frowned but did not deny his words. If the man wanted to reveal more information, he would not stop him.

Besides, he was not exactly wrong.

"Once upon a time, our race was similar to yours," Amadeus began, no longer looking at Haruto. His gaze went beyond him, focused on times long gone. "Like humans, we were the dominant species on our planet. We flourished. We evolved and through our evolution we stumbled upon Runes."

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Amadeus' face.

"Calling it anything other than a fluke would be a lie. Certain individuals began to be born with special abilities. Increased strength. Enhanced reaction time. Minor telekinesis. The abilities varied from person to person. In the beginning, only one out of millions was born with special abilities, but with every generation gifted individuals increased in frequency. With more individuals to analyze, it became possible for our race to reach the root of the phenomenon, Runes."

A quirk of evolution. Nothing more. Nothing less. That was the beginning of the Magius.

"We were not the only race in the universe to discover them," Amadeus said, drawing a surprised look from Haruto. For the youth who had been a normal high school student until a few months ago, the idea of one race, let alone many of them out there, was still hard to handle.

"However, we were the only race that possessed natural Rune-users and that gift only increased with time. Our flesh bodies became nearly meaningless as we evolved from biological organisms that used Runes to creatures of Runes that inhabited biological vessels," Amadeus said, "yet we were still tied to those flesh-and-blood bodies. When those expired, so did we. Even though Runes could be used to lengthen our natural lifespan, it was not a permanent solution. The body would eventually give way."

"Some theorized our evolution would eventually lead us to discard our bodies altogether and by doing so overcome death at last," Amadeus said, then shrugged. "Some people were not content to let nature take its course."

The image of his father flashed through Haruto's mind. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what followed.

"Our kind searched for a way to overcome our flesh-and-blood bodies and in doing so ascend into pure Rune-based organisms," Amadeus went on. "As you may guess, we succeeded. However, the success created a new problem for us."

"You still needed a body," Haruto said, as the pieces began to click in his mind.

"Something like that," Amadeus said, nodding. "You must understand, Tokishima, existing as a creature of pure Runes is dangerous. Runes are everywhere. Without a physical container to draw a line between Self and Environment, the risk of losing oneself into nothingness is great. Our scientists had foreseen that problem and prepared accordingly."

Amadeus paused to take a sip. For his part, Haruto was doing his best to memorize everything Amadeus said. While he did not understand why he was sharing this information with him, he did understand the information was invaluable.

"We created containers, mechanical vessels that could hold our beings. In that way, we could exist as eternal creatures of Runes while still able to interact with the world around us," he said. "While living in them we had no need for air, food, and water. We did not need to worry about the weaknesses of the flesh. By discarding our bodies we had ascended. We had truly become Magius."

"It was our greatest era," Amadeus said, looking at Haruto. "It may still be, as far as I know. However, you already know what happened to my fellow Magius and I."

"You crashed on Earth," Haruto said.

"Indeed," Amadeus said, nodding. "Thanks to the crash, the mechanical vessels we had come to rely on became unusable. We were forced to latch on to the nearest organisms, not all of them human. I advise you never try taking over an animal. Their minds are too primitive to house us safely. We lost many that way."

"After that you began to live among us, founded the Council, and controlled the world from the shadows," Haruto said, bringing his cup to his lips. "I have learned that much at least."

"Not control," Amadeus said, raising a finger. "Guide. The Council's goal is to guide humanity towards a brighter future."

It was only Haruto's overly kind nature that kept him from snorting. Regardless, his disbelief must have shown since Amadeus proceeded to elaborate.

"As I said, you must understand our history. We tried to fix the ship, but the damage was too great. Earth lacked the technology to fix it and our supply of Runes was nearly depleted. Having few alternatives, we decided to wait until the technology advanced to suit our needs. After all, a few thousand years mattered little to us back then."

Haruto nearly choked on his tea at the number.

For a human, one or two years was a significant amount of time. Twenty years was more than a fifth of a person's life in most cases.

He wasn't even eighteen yet. He could not begin to imagine a hundred years, let alone a thousand.

But time wasn't really such a concern for someone immortal.

Immortal like the Magius.

Immortal like him.

Unless the Valvrave killed him again, he was probably going to outlive most of his friends.

It was not a line of thought he wanted to pursue. Thankfully, Amadeus kept talking.

"We decided to live among humans while we waited."

It would have been impossible not to unless they decided to hide in a cave.

"To that end, we made some tough choices. We split into groups of two or three at most. The feeding habits of a larger group would have been noticeable by the humans. Additionally, we kept our feeding to a minimum, usually just once a month. It made us weak but we did not want to cause concern in the general population. We were content to live among you."

A hard look came over Amadeus' face. Haruto found himself tensing slightly.

"That was a mistake," he said. "Humans were not easy to live with and our secret not so easy to keep. Now and back then, they were not ready for us. That which was foreign frightened them. We scared them. Our abilities scared them. In fear, they lashed out."

Cain's words flashed through Haruto's mind.

"We tried bearing with it. We tried hiding from them. We tried helping them," Amadeus said, this time looking at Haruto. "However, humans left us with no choice. All this world bred was conflict. No matter where we went, we found war and death. The world refused to advance, refused to change. That needed to change. We needed to change it. A few of our number decided to take action. They actively involved themselves in human politics. They introduced new policies. In time, they formed an organization in charge of keeping peace in the world and protecting Magius."

"The Council," Haruto said.

"It wasn't named as such in the beginning," Amadeus said. "Nor did it have 101 members, but yes. The beginnings of our organization can be traced to that event. Through our influence, human development was sped up. Peace flourished. War may still exist but humanity is much better now than it was hundreds of years ago. We did many great things while we held the reins of the world… then you came along."

"And your father. Especially your father," Amadeus added. There was a note of annoyance in his voice when he mentioned the man.

For once, Haruto felt something resembling empathy for the alien.

"Your… creation was something we could not predict," Amadeus said, frowning. "Similar, yet not. In some ways, it was rather…. galling."

Their long evolution had been copied by a person belonging to an inferior species. To call it a blow to their pride would be putting it mildly.

Amadeus then smiled. "However, your existence shows promise. Promise for our future."

"What do you mean?" Haruto asked, putting an elbow on his armrest and resting his cheek against his knuckles.

"You have proven your strength. You have shown your value," Amadeus said. "Under the current circumstances, to continue our fight would be meaningless. We are kin."

Haruto straightened on his seat, the gears in his head turning. "You can't possibly mean-"

"Join us," Amadeus said, spreading his arms. "Humanity has already rejected you. You saw how quickly they turned on you when they learned the truth. However, you will find a place among the Council."

Haruto's brain stopped working for a second. He should be angry and furious the chancellor even dared to make the offer. Shock, however, had taken hold of him first. A good thing for everyone involved.

"Join you?" He managed to echo, incredulously.

"It only makes sense," Amadeus said. "To continue our fight would be counterproductive. Meanwhile, we can only benefit from cooperation."

For a moment, Haruto actually thought about it.

The Magius were not necessarily their enemies.

At least, Lieselotte hadn't been.

She had dreamed of coexistence between humans and Magius. Haruto had believed in that dream, as had L-Elf. In the end, they had just wanted to build a place where they could all live in peace. There were probably Magius who thought like that in the Council.

Some of them at least.

Making peace with them would be a good first step.

"Just one question," Haruto said.

Amadeus nodded. "By all means."

"You have already created technology that works with Runes on this planet," Haruto began. "Why haven't you gone back into space?"

It was a valid question. Given everything he knew of the Magius, Haruto could not see how that feat was beyond them.

"True," Amadeus said. "We could have built a ship and gone back home. However, we have gotten attached to this planet. Living here has changed us in many ways."

He was not lying. The Magius had traveled all over the world. They had hidden among humans and lived as humans. They married and had children. They worked. They learned. They experienced.

They were no longer the same people who crashed on Earth. There was no telling how they would fit into the society they left behind.

Amadeus was not lying. Not entirely.

"You got attached?" Haruto echoed. "You mean you got used to arrogantly ruling over everyone."

Why would a king ever give up his kingdom?

Amadeus' smile became even thinner.

"I see you still need some time to absorb this," He said, standing up. "I will leave you with your thoughts, but do remember my door is always open. After all, there is still much you do not know."

With those words, Amadeus walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

He was right in a way. Haruto would not deny he knew little. However, some things he did know.

The Council's Phantoms kidnapped innocent people and killed them for their Runes like cattle.

The Council's influence led to the many assaults on his homeland.

The Council had hurt Saki, publicly shoving a spear through her heart.

Haruto did not know much. He was still young and dealing with issues much bigger than him. However, he did know the Council in its current form was an organization whose continued existence could not be allowed.

xXx

Pontus growled as he stormed into his room and slammed the door shut.

The Magius grabbed the nearest object, a glass of water on top of his desk, and threw it against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

The meeting had been a disaster.

In the end, the only vote against keeping Tokishima alive had been his.

He was surrounded by short-sighted fools.

Did they not understand? Did they not see how dangerous that man was?

Pontus sighed. Of course they didn't. The lure of being able to have true children was too strong. In a way, he could understand. Even if he produced offspring, the son or daughter would be just a normal human lacking any of his gifts.

It was too cruel.

How many sons and daughters had he lost already? How many grandchildren?

However, keeping Tokishima alive was not worth it. Why couldn't anyone see?

The Valvraves were an abomination. A machine which used one of their kind as a fuel source. A machine capable of making lesser beings into their equal.

Gods created humans, not the other way around.

Pontus sighed and let himself fall into one of his couches. He waved an arm, green energy glowing around it. The scattered shards of glass and the water floated up and dumped themselves into the trash can.

A soft female laugh reached his ears. "Taking out your temper on a poor glass of water? What did it ever do to you?"

Pontus was on his feet in an instant. His head whipped towards the source of the sound.

"Celia," he said, spitting out the word as if it was a curse.

She sat like a queen on a couch at the corner of his room. She was a beautiful woman in her twenties with a svelte body, fair skin, blue eyes, and long red hair that fell past her shoulders. Her features were unusually sharp for a woman but they did not detract from her beauty.

Those were, of course, just her physical features.

In spite of how she looked, she was a Magius who had gone through dozens of hosts just as he had. Even if his hair was gray and hers was not, their age was the same.

She was, to his great misfortune, a member of the Golden Seven just like him.

Just how long had she been sitting there?

"What is it that brings you here?"

And how can I make you leave? He thought.

"What else? The meeting," Celia said, quirking an eyebrow in amusement. "It has been quite some time since something truly interesting happened in one of those."

"Interesting?" He echoed, knowing full well what the woman's definition of the term was. "Having witnessed your behavior in the meeting, I have a hard time believing that."

She had not said a word throughout the entire thing, only raising her hand to vote.

In itself, that was not unusual. Rare was the meeting where she had anything to say. Celia rarely cared much about politics. While she had been instrumental during the early days of the Council, her interest had disappeared once they had reached stability.

Regardless, her actions had earned her a great deal of respect, awe, and even fear. Enough to ensure her status as a member of the High Council every time elections were held.

"There was little point in saying anything when all had been decided before the first word was exchanged," Celia said, looking at her nails. "Had you realized that, you could have avoided making a fool of yourself today."

"I was trying to protect my race!" Pontus said, his glare meeting her impassive stare. "Something you have all forgotten how to do."

To his surprise, Celia smiled.

"Oh, I quite agree with you," Celia said.

Pontus blinked.

"What?"

"Oh, Pontus, always acting like everyone is against you," Celia said, shaking her head. "Believe it or not, I am on your side. Soichi Tokishima is too dangerous to be left alive. The others have grown too comfortable in their superiority to realize this simple truth."

A vein throbbed in his forehead. "Then why did you vote against me?"

Celia clicked her tongue. "Pontus, you never learn, do you? Reckless in Greece. Reckless in Florence. Reckless now."

"I do not have to take that from someone who has not changed since we crashed on Earth," Pontus said, his face growing in redness.

"You cannot improve perfection," Celia said without a hint of boasting.

Pontus sighed. Humility had always been a virtue lost on Celia.

"But I digress," Celia said. "I voted against you because you were going to lose even if I voted in your favor. Two votes do not make a majority. Really, it is a dark day when you are the only one who sees sense."

"If you came here just to insult me, I ask you to leave now," Pontus said, pointing to the door. "I am in no mood for your games."

Celia smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"And that is exactly why you had so little support today. Politics. If you bothered to play the game, the voting might have been different," she said, shamelessly ignoring the fact she had not played politics in centuries. "But rejoice, there is still hope for you."

"Leave, viper," Pontus said, turning away from her. "I already told you I have no desire to play your games."

Celia frowned.

"Pontus, if you keep being rude I am going to get angry," she said. "The level of distrust you are showing me is unmerited. I merely seek the same thing you do."

Pontus snorted. "Since when? I have seen you start wars for your amusement. You care for no one's well-being but your own."

"And because of that, I desire to see Soichi Tokishima dead as much as you do," Celia said with full frankness.

Had she said she wanted to protect the Council and her fellow Magius, Pontus would have ordered her to leave. By admitting her self-serving motives, she had earned Pontus' interest.

"You have five minutes," he said.

"As things stand now, the Council will not change its mind. Our two votes in the High Council are not enough which leaves us with few choices. One: we kill the others, take over the Council and-"

"Out!" Pontus said, pointing to his door.

"A joke. It was a joke. You need a better sense of humor," Celia said, holding up her hands. "Real Option 1: we spy on the other members to find their weaknesses and make them vote our way."

"That sounds needlessly complicated," Pontus said.

"It really is," Celia said, nodding. "Which leads us to Option 2: we drop the political games and take independent action."

Pontus raised an eyebrow. He like that option, which meant there was some sort of catch.

"You suggest going behind the Council's back," he pointed out.

"The Council will never agree to kill Tokishima. You know this. You cannot put a price on family," Celia replied. "However, humans are frail creatures. Accidents happen. I know plenty who would be willing to engineer such a tragedy. If you allow it, I can make all the arrangements and-"

"You will do no such thing," Pontus said. "You may speak the truth, but there is no telling how far you will go to eliminate the human."

"How cruel of you. I am hurt. I truly am," Celia said with mock hurt, putting a hand over her heart.

"I will take care of it," Pontus said with a resolute look on his face.

He was not an idiot. He knew there was more to Celia's intentions than what she revealed. At the same time, he could not deny the truth in her words.

If the Council would not do the right thing, it was up to them to correct it.

For the sake of the Magius, Soichi Tokishima would die.

Celia just smiled.

This promised to be interesting.

xXx

Interlude: Magius - End

xXx

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This interlude, especially Mirko's scene, has a bit too much info dump for my liking but I couldn't find a way to avoid it. The guy can really monologue. Hopefully, you guys weren't too bored by that part.
> 
> That said, while Amadeus didn't really lie, it's important to consider his version has a biased perspective.
> 
> On the plus side, I finally got around to introducing more Magius. Well, Pontus and Celia got the biggest share of screen time, but you'll get to see more of the others in time.
> 
> Also, who was surprised by the Golden Seven thing? Genuinely want to know.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Valvrave.

 

xXx

xXx

As a rule, people like to think they are in full control of their fate.

Reality is not so kind.

People live at the mercy of coincidence.

More importantly, people live at the mercy of others.

The owner of a restaurant may decide to remove your favorite dish from the menu because no one else was ordering it. A politician you did not vote for was elected and helped pass a bill you did not agree with. The higher-ups you may never meet in your life decided a new business model is needed and your position is now superfluous.

Even if we do everything right, things can still go wrong through factors outside our control. We are always at the mercy of everyone else, making choices yet unable to fully control the results. That is a simple fact of life.

In Module 60, two men were about to make a choice.

It was nighttime in the Module. Most people were already asleep. Once the Module's nightlife had been quite active, but all had changed after Dorssia invaded.

The military power had launched an attack on the unprepared, neutral country, and JIOR's forces had been too weak to fight off the invasion. In less than a day, all but one of their territories had fallen to Dorssian hands.

Module 60 was no different.

The soldiers took over. Key city figures were captured. Some had been taken away. Others were jailed. A few had been killed during the attack. A curfew was established. As soon as nighttime arrived no one was allowed to go out. Those who did would have to deal with the patrols.

It had been hell.

However, there had been one shining light, a glimmer of hope.

The Valvraves.

Dorssia tried to cut communications with the outside world, but JIOR did not have the best technology in the world for nothing. The people had been able to keep up with the news through underground channels. They had learned of the Valvraves and their miraculous successes against the tyrannical Dorssia.

With each victory, the people rejoiced. They cheered for the kids who fought against the world. They were proud. So proud.

Until that fated broadcast.

Monsters.

They were monsters.

Confusion had reigned in the Module. Surely it was a lie? Dorssia had faked the whole thing to demoralize them!

Right?

Some were not so sure.

However, things had not stopped there. The effect of the first broadcast was nothing compared to the second. Even the Dorssian soldiers had been unsure of how to react.

There had been arguments, fights even. Between the soldiers!

Then they had left.

One day the soldiers had just left. There had been no rebel army. No masterful strategy. No dramatic battle. Just a conquered city left alone by the conquerors.

Order needed to be established. Module 60 needed direction. Module 60 needed a government.

Module 60 needed a leader.

Christopher Watson had answered the call. He was an up and coming politician in JIOR. The people loved him and everyone in the city knew he was a shoe-in for governor during next year's election. It was lucky for all involved he hadn't been transported to Dorssia but rather jailed in the police headquarters.

Within hours of the Dorssian retreat, he had taken command and organized what remained of the police force. He had recruited a number of volunteers from all over the city and gotten the hospitals up and running again. He had communicated with the other Modules and coordinated their efforts.

There was still much to be done, but they were on the right track.

JIOR could be rebuilt.

Christopher Watson was about to make history.

"I can't do this."

The words came out of his mouth as he let himself fall back on his chair. He was tired. So tired. He had barely slept this week. He barely slept most weeks nowadays. Midnight was two and a half hours ago and he was still in his office.

A pile of paperwork loomed before him. Reports on the crops, their police force, correspondence with the leaders of nearby Modules.

It was impossible for one person to do this much.

"I imagine many would be disheartened to hear those words come out of your mouth."

Watson glared at the only other person in his office.

The man was at a smaller desk at the side, doing less important (though no less urgent) work. He was older than Watson, possibly by three full decades, though one would never think so with the energy he showed. While Christopher Watson would like nothing more than to fall asleep on his desk, there were not even bags under the older man's eyes.

His name was Roderick Barton.

They had met a few years ago at a fundraiser and quickly became friends. Barton was a semi-retired politician, but his voice still carried weight in their party. It was not an exaggeration to say Watson's rapid ascend in the political sphere had been due to Barton's backing.

Watson was aware of this and would be forever thankful to the man.

Right now, he was just annoyed.

"Well, forgive me for being sensible and aware of my limitations."

"A man of your position can ill afford either of those things," Barton replied.

"All the more reason why I shouldn't be on this seat," Watson replied. What were his qualifications, really? He was barely thirty. Youngest Governor in JOIR? He could see that. A seat in the House of Councilors a few years down the line and maybe throw his hat for prime minister a decade or so later? Sure.

What he was doing right now? What he was about to do?

Too much.

"If you really think the perfect man will come along, I daresay you will be waiting a long time," Barton replied. "Some people wait in vain all their lives for that one perfect solution to all their problems. It's a myth. A sweet poison people inject themselves with every day until they die, forever waiting. Forever inactive."

Watson snorted. "Have I mentioned how much I love your boundless optimism today?"

Barton shrugged. "I am a realist. Perfect people do not exist. Only people who pretend to be."

"And you'll have me be the guy who plays the part?"

"Who else? This is the greatest crisis JIOR has ever faced. Our people need someone," Barton said. "You are not perfect. You'll hear no argument from me there, but for the sake of the people, you must pretend. In their eyes, you can become something else."

Watson looked tired. "And if I still say no?"

"Well, you will have the privilege of watching our country end. Chaos will reign and the days of the Dorssian occupation will be a happy memory compared to what will come."

Watson raised a fist. "Hurrah for emotional manipulation."

"You did ask," Barton said. His face softened. "For what it is worth, I believe in you. I truly do. Even if you don't. For this role, there is no one better suited than you."

Watson was quiet for a moment. "Just so you know, you could have just started with that. Positive reinforcement. I realize it may be a new concept for your generation, but it works better than your Stone Age motivational methods. What were you going to do next? Throw rocks at me?"

Barton's eyebrow twitched. "Oh, shut it brat. Now, what is it going to be?"

Watson made his choice.

It was a choice that will affect countless people, and, like with most choices, the end result would be completely out of their hands.

xXx

Water splashed to the ground.

That was normal.

Objects had a tendency to fall when nothing was holding them up.

Much like the sun coming out every morning, it was not something up for debate. Rather, it was a commonly accepted fact. The specifics, the hows and whys, had come much later. However, even before the word gravity had been first conceived, people knew and accepted things fell down.

Not up.

"Again," Amadeus said for the umpteenth time that day. He waved a hand and a green glow surrounded the fallen water before it floated up and poured itself into the cup held by Haruto.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Haruto tried not to be annoyed.

Tried to.

"Isn't there an easier exercise I could practice with?" Haruto asked. It was not the first time he asked that question.

"This _is_ the simplest exercise there is." Amadeus' reply prompted a sigh from Haruto. The youth's stare focused on the cup of water in his hand once more.

True to his word, Amadeus had sought him out for more talks. To his complete surprise, they had been just that. Talks. Amadeus had not tried preaching the Magius Agenda to him again. Instead, their talks centered on more mundane matters. Favorite books. Favorite foods. Past experiences. Likes. Dislikes.

Since Haruto kept his answers short, the ex-Chancellor did most of the talking. Only keen awareness of his position and the possibility of gaining useful information kept Haruto from storming off whenever the Magius sought him out. Sadly, tolerance was a necessity.

It was during one of those talks that Amadeus had offered to teach him how to use his powers.

Haruto had accepted.

He was not an idiot. He knew something lurked underneath the Magius' offer. He was not the same person who had recklessly accepted the Valvrave's contract all those months ago (Had it even been a year?). If something sounded too good to be true, it usually was. Experience had taught him that much.

However, ever since he gave up his humanity, he had been struggling to come to terms with what he had become.

Ever since then, Haruto had tried to keep himself under control.

He had tried and failed.

Every time Haruto thought he had an answer, new knowledge caused him to rethink, caused him to waver, caused him to doubt.

The simple truth of the matter was he was already a danger to everyone around him. Amadeus did not need to lift a finger to make it so. If Amadeus wanted to watch him self-destruct all he needed to do was leave him to his own devices. His previous life was an example of that.

If there was the slightest chance Amadeus would actually teach him how to control what he had become, he could not afford to turn him down. That was all there was to it.

"It is only a matter of focus," Amadeus said. It didn't help Haruto any.

Make the water fall up. That was all he needed to do. It was the first step towards understanding his powers.

"If you cannot manage this, then you can consider Rune Manipulation forever out of your reach."

Haruto turned over the words in his head for a moment as he stared at the water. "Am I not using Runes already?"

He didn't need to think to regenerate or use Jacking.

"Regeneration is simply an instinctual defense mechanism while Jacking is the result of creating a biological circuit which allows Runes to follow the path of least resistance," Amadeus replied, guessing what he was thinking. "Both are automatic functions of Runes."

Haruto mentally debated something for a moment before deciding to go for it. "How about this?"

He closed his eyes and focused on his right hand. When he opened them a soft green glow surrounded it. It was the power he had discovered when fighting L-Elf on the Moon. Without it, they would have likely died there.

Now that he used it again, he couldn't help but notice it was somehow similar to using Hard Afterglow.

Amadeus stared at the glow for a moment too long before giving his judgment. "While it is heartening to know you are indeed capable of conscious Rune Manipulation, I would not recommend becoming reliant on such inefficient use of Runes."

And there was the angle, Haruto thought as willed the glow to vanish from his hand.

Even if Amadeus was serious about wanting Haruto to join them, teaching him Rune Manipulation was too big a risk.

Unless he was also doing it to know if he was capable of it at all.

He wanted to test just how alike Magius and Kamitsuki were.

"Rune Manipulation is about efficiency," Amadeus went on. Haruto had learned if he stayed quiet, the Magius would go on and on. Which was just fine by him. It helped him learn.

"Using Runes in such a raw form like you just did is a waste. To truly master Runes one must give them an order. A function. That is the basis of this exercise. Why does water fall down? Gravity? It is not a wrong answer. However, it is not a full one. The Runes in the environment which contain gravitational information make the process happen."

Amadeus pointed to the cup. "If you want to make the water in the cup fall up. You must simply change the function in those Runes. Invert it."

It was the reason why this exercise was supposed to be simple. Haruto understood that much from earlier talks. He was not deleting the order completely. He was not heavily modifying it. He was not creating a function from scratch.

He was just inverting it. Just flipping it around.

Just. Haruto allowed himself a sarcastic smile. If it was so easy, he would have done so already. How did one even begin to manipulate elementary particles of information? How did one change the information written in reality to do the opposite of what it was supposed to do?

Haruto sighed and grabbed the cup once more.

Focus.

In the end, that was all there was to it. If it didn't work, he just needed to try again. Again and again. As long as it took. Failure was a luxury he did not have. If he failed, he put everyone at risk again. If he didn't apply himself enough before he attacked someone again he would have no one to blame but himself.

For a moment, the water glowed.

Haruto put the cup down.

The water stayed.

It was an instant. A moment so short it could easily be dismissed as a trick of the light. For a moment, the water stayed in the air inching upwards ever so slightly.

The moment passed. The water splashed on the ground.

Hope bloomed in Haruto's chest. He had done it! It was small. Pathetic even. Laughable. All that and more.

It was his first step.

Amadeus smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Progress. Excellent."

He waved his hand. The water placed itself into the cup once more. "Again."

xXx

Sometime after his lessons were over Haruto made his way to the base's cafeteria. A half-finished tray of something that was supposed to be food lay before him.

In theory, he didn't need to eat. Amadeus had confirmed it for him, but he had known about it even before dying. During those three months on the Moon, he had gone days without eating at times. All without suffering any ill effects. He did not understand the specifics back then, but he did now.

The energy provided by Runes was superior to any nutrition he could gain through normal food.

Still, Haruto liked to eat. Tasteless as this food was, he liked to eat.

It made him feel human.

H-Neun chose that moment to plop himself down on the seat next to him. "Hello there! How did your meeting with ex-chancellor go? Made any progress on those alien powers of yours?"

Haruto paused mid-bite, took a look around the room, and sighed. "You two are still fighting?"

H-Neun bravely held on to the cheer on his face, but only succeeded halfway. "Eh, I said things. She said things. Avoidance is healthy for situations like this."

H-Neun knew what he was talking about. He had worked with L-Elf. He had learned all he needed to know about being a loner through osmosis.

Haruto sighed. H-Neun and Nao had been like this since coming back from the mission. They did their best to avoid each other, right down to different cafeteria schedules. The few times they had crossed each other's paths had been awkward and short as each soon went about their way.

It meant he was left to play the mediator between the two, a position he felt ill-suited for.

Mediating had been Shoko's thing.

"Besides, I am serious," H-Neun said. "How goes the Space Vampire Training?"

Haruto thought about it for a moment before moving his free hand in a so-so gesture. With the other he put more food in his mouth.

Truth be told, he had no frame of reference for what constituted as normal progress. Amadeus had not really complained about his learning speed, but few things seemed to evoke anything other than bland acceptance in the Magius.

If he had to be honest, he wasn't happy with his progress. However, Haruto was also aware those were his own unreasonable expectations. He wanted to know everything there was to know about his powers now. Not tomorrow. Not in a week. Not in a month. Now.

It wasn't going to happen. He knew that. All he could do was practice and gradually get better.

"Eh, you'll get it eventually." H-Neun patted him on the back before digging into his own food.

"You know," Haruto said in between bites. "You should really try to make up with Nao-san."

H-Neun cocked his head. "Really? That's what you want to talk about?"

"Really." Haruto nodded with a serious look on his face. "Look, I… usually don't like butting in other peoples' problems, but we don't know when we'll be given another mission. It will be dangerous if you two are still fighting by then."

Haruto paused for a moment.

"You already know this," he added.

H-Neun crossed his arms. "And I assume you're going to talk with Nao about this as well."

Haruto nodded. "I plan to, but I figure you are more likely to put aside your issues and make the first move."

"And whatever did I do for you to have such a high opinion of me?" H-Neun asked with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't like they had known each other for that long.

"You talk to me," Haruto replied. Something like guilt flashed through his eyes for the briefest of instants. "You know... you have to know most of what you said to Nao… it applies to me as well... yet you're still able to interact with me."

An awkward silence took hold of the table.

After all, Haruto was right. When it came to the enemies of Dorssia, he was near the top. H-Neun had seen firsthand just how much he had done to his countrymen. He had done everything Nao had and more.

Before that fateful reveal, the media liked to sing praises to the Valvrave pilots. Within minutes of his first fight in Unit-1 every single ARUS news channel was talking about the Boy Who Fought the World. The pilots of the Valvraves were the heroes the world had been expecting in the fight against the forces of tyranny.

Unless, of course, you were Dorssian. Then the Valvraves and their pilots had an entirely different reputation.

They were monsters.

Not to the regular population, of course. Defeats were portrayed, at worst, as tactical retreats by the media, when the information was allowed to spread at all. However, it was a different story with the soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, Dorssia's military might was rendered helpless by a group of teenagers and their bizarre machines. Dorssian soldiers understood better than anyone else the sheer terror of the Valvraves. Many soldiers had been killed at the hands of the pilots.

Then there was Tokishima Haruto and Unit-1. Because it was simply not possible to group him with the others. No, he was in a class of his own.

Every time Unit-1 turned gold and space lit up with dazzling intensity, Dorssians died. Countless soldiers met their end at Haruto's hands.

He had killed them and thought little of it because they were the enemy. It was war. They had attacked first. He needed to protect his country. All those were true and given the choice he would do it again. At the same time, none of it changed what he had done.

The soldiers he had killed were people.

Even now that hadn't changed.

Yet he was still doing it.

Unlike H-Neun and Nao, Haruto did not have a Rune Absorber on him. He was obeying the orders given to him for one reason only.

The people kidnapped by the Magius. The people who would be harvested for Runes unless he obeyed Soichi Tokishima.

To protect the lives of people he had never met he would go on and kill people he had never met. The enemies of the Council. People with their own lives, families, and loved ones.

It was, in many ways, the height of hypocrisy. Perhaps it was nothing more than petty self-satisfaction.

"So you knew?" H-Neun said after a moment of silence. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That's more self-awareness than I gave you credit for."

There was something in H-Neun's voice that was not quite disappointment.

"Was that a compliment?" Haruto asked.

From Cain or L-Elf it would be. H-Neun thought it but did not say it.

Instead, he went with, "I am not sure." H-Neun shrugged. "I only know I am the same so I'm not in a position to throw stones."

To Haruto's surprise, H-Neun gave him a pat on the back. "Alright. I'll make an effort and be the bigger person."

A tired smile appeared on Haruto's face. "That's all I ask."

xXx

Soichi Tokishima was happy.

As a rule, Soichi Tokishima's happiness was rarely a good thing for others. Anyone who had worked with the man could attest to that. However, this time, the source of his happiness was rather harmless, all things considered. Common, even.

Soichi Tokishima was watching a video of his son.

He had recorded his whole session with the Magius using the security cameras in the base. Currently, he was on his third watch. While the extraterrestrial's lecture on Runes offered some interesting insights, it was not his main concern.

The root of his happiness lay in one point two precious seconds.

For that instant, his son's power had prevailed over one of the fundamental forces of the universe.

He was so damn proud.

The sound of the lab doors opening reached his ears but he did not bother turning around.

"I see you are enjoying yourself," Amadeus said as he came into his lab.

Soichi smiled. "Quite. I am sorry to say I was not present for most of my son's childhood. Being able to witness his achievements now fills me with joy. It almost feels like I am making up for the lost time."

Amadeus nodded, being well acquainted with the joys and pains of having children. "If you wish it, I could arrange for you to attend our sessions."

Soichi considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "I am afraid I will have to decline. My son is going through a rebellious phase. My presence will only hinder his progress."

"Rebellious. I see," Amadeus said, holding his chin. "I must say, under the circumstances, I am surprised you never saw fit to place a Rune Absorber on him."

Soichi snorted. So that was what this visit was about.

"Oh, placing that silly little thing on my son would be utterly useless. At best it would have taken him a few weeks to learn how to disable the device. You have verified his ability to manipulate Runes. You know this to be true."

If Soichi had used the device on Haruto, he would have learned how to use his Runes to disable it. After that, Haruto would have little trouble disabling the devices on his two companions, and they would have escaped by now.

As long as he didn't have any personal experience disabling the device, he would not risk trying to manipulate the Rune Absorbers placed on the other two due to the high risk of harming them.

As always, he was too soft.

Amadeus quirked an eyebrow. "Were you so certain your experiment was a success?"

"Failure is nothing but a precursor to success. As such, I have seen plenty of them," Soichi said, eyes still on the video. "My son isn't one, as I am sure you have ascertained by now. I wonder, were you pleased with his ability to manipulate Runes... or perhaps a tiny bit scared?"

Some people had a hard time accepting evolution had rendered their existence meaningless.

A saber-toothed tiger may look dangerous and strong, but in the end, it was nothing more than a failed design which nature had long ago discarded.

Amadeus' eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but he did not rise to Tokishima's provocation. "In the absence of a Rune Absorber, are you certain you will be able to keep your creation under control? He holds no love for you, and I do not command his trust. That much is clear. How long do you think holding some humans hostage will keep him tame?"

At this Soichi Tokishima frowned for once. "Unfortunately, the threat of the hostages will keep my son working for us for a long time."

A puzzled look crossed Amadeus' face, but he did not need to ask.

"He cares too much about others," Soichi went on. "Human lives. They are important to him. Can you imagine it?"

As a matter of fact, Amadeus could.

"There was a certain group among us that grew too fond of humans," Amadeus said, seeing little harm in sharing this particular story with the man. "They disliked the way the Council conducted its affairs and desired a different type of relationship with humans, a partnership."

The way he said the last word showed how little he thought of the idea.

"Luckily they were too small of a group to have any genuine impact. Their leader was captured and punished. The rest recanted and submitted to the Council."

The ones who had not escaped, at least, but there was no need for Tokishima to learn that particular detail.

"Just because one is a superior organism does not mean one possesses the proper mentality to act as one. Your son is one such example. However, such mentality suits our purposes," Amadeus said.

At least it suited their short term purposes. The long-term usefulness of Haruto Tokishima was a different matter. The boy's kindness would prove an annoying obstacle.

In that sense, it was not wrong to say Tokishima Haruto was a failure.

"He will grow out of it," Soichi said with such certainty it gave Amadeus pause. "My son is young and going through a phase. In time, experience will prove superior to simple cultural norms. In that sense, I must admit I am grateful to you. As he learns to explore what he can do, he will realize how different he is from the humans he insists on placing as his equal."

Amadeus stared at Soichi for a moment.

"I must admit some confusion," Amadeus said, tapping his chin. "You so casually dismiss humans and hope your son learns to discard them, but you must realize you are a human. Your intellect, impressive as it may be, does not change that."

For the first time, Soichi took his gaze off the video.

"You think I am concerned about such petty matters?" Soichi scoffed. "No, the moment I created my son I knew my purpose had been fulfilled. Who am I to deny him his purpose out of some foolish desire to preserve my existence? That would be the height of selfishness. As far as I am concerned, my current existence exists only to help my son realize his place in the world. You could kill me right now and I would die happy. As far as I am concerned I have accomplished everything I needed to."

Soichi Tokishima smiled. "However, I can't deny some curiosity. After all, what father doesn't want to be there when his son becomes a man?"

xXx

"Congratulations," A-Drei said as he paced in front of a line of students. "You have all died bravely in defense of your country. A sealed envelope containing a check and a letter praising your valor will be sent to your next of kin."

"That," A-Drei went on, "is what I wish I could say right now. However, death due to the most horrendous piloting I have seen in my life does not make the cut for any type of army benefit."

The five Sakimori students in front of him winced. As much as they wished to, they could not deny his words.

They had gotten killed in a simulation. No, it was even worse than that.

They hadn't been able to operate the machines at all.

The Kirschbaums had arrived a few days ago and with them, the simulators L-Elf had requested. The silver pods were over 12 feet in diameter and utterly featureless on the outside. Compared to the equipment A-Drei and the rest of his team had used to test their compatibility with the Kirschbaum, these machines were considerably more advanced. A testament to Dorssian engineering for which Kibukawa was extremely grateful for.

After all, they couldn't afford to waste a Kirschbaum training the kids, which is what would most certainly happen if they let them pilot one as they were now.

Some of the students had barely lasted a minute before crashing.

Those had been the good ones.

"I wonder, did you even read the instruction manual?" A-Drei asked.

"Of course we did!" One brave student said. "We aren't taking this lightly. We all read the damn manual! It's just... the moment the simulation started up I couldn't control the damn robot. Not even roller-coasters are that bad."

The other students nodded and muttered in agreement. It was not a matter of not knowing what they had to do to. It went beyond that. They had simply been unable to do it.

It came as no surprise to Kibukawa. After all, an ordinary high school student wouldn't be able to handle that level of simulated g-force.

"Bad? The simulation is only at 20%. If you can't handle this much, you can forget about ever being able to pilot a Kirschbaum!" A-Drei said, making the students flinch. "Next group. Get in the pods!"

As the students followed his orders, Kibukawa sighed and typed away to get the simulators ready again. With A-Drei playing drill sergeant, the role of monitoring the student's vital signs and controlling the simulations had fallen to him.

The students were not the only ones who had spent sleepless nights learning how to use new equipment.

That was why he knew A-Drei was not understating things. The simulators were set at one of the lowest difficulties. If the students couldn't overcome this, there was no hope for them.

"Begin the simulation," A-Drei said. "Let's hope someone manages to make it past two minutes this time."

As Kibukawa did as the Dorssian asked, he could not ignore the intense gaze focused on his actions.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" he asked without looking back.

Nanami Rion shook her head in negative. The teacher wanted to convey her vigor with the gesture but it ended coming out as cute.

"I have been bed-ridden for too long. Right now, I need to be ready to help however I can."

Her arm was still in a cast. She had been shot during the attack, and, though he had given her the best treatment he had been capable of, his medical supplies had been limited at the time. Regardless, she had put on a brave face for the students and did her best to be there while they wandered across space.

After the Module had been re-taken she had succumbed to exhaustion. He was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. Thankfully, he had been able to provide her and the other wounded students with better treatment using the Module's supplies.

If he had his way she would still be resting, but she had been adamant about getting up.

With one arm useless, there was not much she could do, hence why she had chosen to watch the simulations.

After all, one did not need two arms to operate the control panel. She studied his movements carefully, so she could take over in the future to free him for other duties.

Earnest as always.

"Suit yourself," he said, as he began the simulation.

It was a fairly simple obstacle course through space. The students would have to dodge a few asteroids and other minor obstacles. The main purpose of the simulation was to get them used to the acceleration of the Kirschbaum.

Not a single student had reached the end so far.

Kibukawa yawned as he watched the seconds pass.

The first student was disqualified ten seconds in. A wrong turn landed him too close to Earth's gravitational field and send him into a direct path for collision with the blue planet.

Another two students lost thirty seconds later when a large asteroid blindsided them. Objects in space were rarely not in motion. It was a lesson they would have to learn if they planned to fight there.

One second after the minute mark, the fourth was unable to rein in his machine in time and ran into an asteroid.

The fifth, to his surprise, was nearing the end of the obstacle course. Sadly, two asteroids too close to each other put an end to that. Unable to react in time to dodge the second one, the pilot crashed.

"Not bad," he said as he ended the simulation. "Congratulations." His eyebrows rose once he saw the name of the pilot. "Miss Ninomiya."

Ninomiya Takahi. Chairman of the Women's Athletic Department. President of the Ballet Club. Queen Bee of the School.

Who would have thought?

The high school girl let out a pained groan as she struggled to get out of the pod.

"I see you lot are not completely hopeless," A-Drei said. "Good."

"Ah... that... hurt," the girl gasped as she managed to get out. Kibukawa raised an eyebrow as Nanami rushed to her side. The simulation was uncomfortable, but it shouldn't have hurt.

Much.

"Are you okay, Ninomiya?" the female teacher asked, as she helped her stay up.

"Yes... it's just..." The girl blushed before muttering something. Kibukawa vaguely heard the words "next time," "use," and "sports bra" mentioned somewhere in there.

Ah.

"Kibukawa-sensei!" Nanami said, aiming a look of righteous indignation at him. "Shouldn't the students have worn pilot suits for protection?"

She wasn't wrong.

Pilot suits were designed to absorb strong shocks, among other things. However, L-Elf and A-Drei had agreed the extra difficulty of not wearing them would force the students to push themselves harder.

He had not exactly disagreed.

He had not considered some students would need better... support.

Life had been so much easier before he got stuck teaching teenagers.

Wishing he could be out smoking, he met Nanami's glare with an impassive stare while trying to think of a good excuse.

His phone ringing saved him.

"Sorry, it looks like I have other duties to attend to," He said, holding up his phone to show the caller, L-Elf. "You are in charge of the simulators now."

"Huh! No, wait..." The sudden shift in topic confused Nanami long enough for Kibukawa to make his escape while some of the students snickered.

A-Drei just sighed and called the next group, trying to pretend he wasn't jealous Kibukawa got to meet with L-Elf.

Some competence would be nice to see.

xXx

Once upon a time, Renbokouji Satomi had thought of himself as a born leader.

It was only natural. He had been born in a wealthy family. He had the looks. He had the intellect. The world was at his feet.

That was what his parents raised him to think.

His parents had been hard on him. Too hard at times. He had been unable to cope with the pressure. Afraid of being unable to meet their expectations, he had ended up doing some things he regretted.

Things he would never stop regretting.

Yet he continued on the path his parents laid for him. He had become President of the Student Council. His grades were stellar. He had the respect of faculty and students. A prestigious university awaited him. He would succeed there too… just like his parents wanted.

Then everything had changed.

He was still not quite sure how to feel about it.

On one hand, his relationship with Akira had improved. Tremendously so. He woke up every day grateful for the fact.

On the other hand, he was forced to face one uncomfortable truth. He wasn't a born leader. He panicked. He hesitated. He couldn't garner the support of the students when he truly needed it. He couldn't shine in adversity like some of the others.

Worst of all, he didn't need to. The Module was in good hands with L-Elf.

It was a sobering realization. Freeing in a sense. He didn't need to be the man his parents wanted him to be.

He wasn't the leader.

He was a guy who was really good at following orders.

He was middle management.

After the initial blow to his pride, Renbokouji Satomi found he could live with that. Like it or not, L-Elf was smart. Unfairly so, even. The Dorssian was the one person who could put his talents to their best use.

In a way, he had grown more as a leader in the months working under L-Elf than in the rest of his life put together.

Sometimes, though, he missed being the one with the final say on things.

Not that he was saying L-Elf was wrong (he had tried to find flaws in his decisions at the beginning. He had tried really hard. As it turned out, L-Elf was unfairly hyper-competent), but there was something to be said for prudence.

Prudence was good.

Prudence involved not sending him out to deal with a group of mercenaries as the Module's representative.

Last time he checked, Shoko won that particular election using a poorly planned, cheap campaign slogan which could only appeal to the lowest common denominator, as opposed to a carefully laid out 5-year plan guaranteed to develop the Module as a nation.

No, he wasn't still bitter from having lost the election. Why would anyone even think that?

"They are landing," Yusuke spoke up beside him, drawing him out of his past grudges and back to his present fears.

Right. The mercenaries.

As it turned out, the damage to the Module had done a good job of destroying most of their crops. Vegetables did not grow well at low to non-existent oxygen levels. Long story short, they needed to buy food unless they wanted to starve to death sometime during the next two months.

In his humble (and prudent) opinion, they should have bought it from the Royalists. They had already delivered the Kirschbaums to them. It was a perfectly reasonable alternative. He had done his best to present it at as such to L-Elf.

The Dorssian had said no.

They already depended too much on the Royalists, L-Elf had said. If they leaned on them too much, it would not be long before the entire Module was annexed into Dorssia. Not through conquest but sheer dependence.

As much as it pained Satomi, he understood. He agreed, even.

Many would be surprised to hear it, but Satomi believed in the country they were trying to build. That was why even though depending on Dorssia would be a more comfortable choice, he couldn't bring himself to allow their country to be devoured.

This country, small and pathetic as it may seem, was their chance. They could make something here. Something…

An image flashed through his mind. His sister. Her clothes dirty and torn with tears in her eyes.

Something better.

Hence, why he was welcoming a band of mercenaries in one of the still functioning hangars of Module 77.

Thankfully, the Module's systems took care of most of the processes required to welcome the ship into the Module. The many machines working in concert led the small cargo ship inside and deposited it in front of them.

Unfortunately, it meant they didn't "require" a large number of people do this.

Satomi would feel a lot safer if he had one of the two Dorssians on the Module with him.

He had nothing against Otamaya. Plus, his sister was in the same room backing them up with her Valvrave just in case things went south, but there was something to be said about having someone with some clue as to what to do in these type of situations. However, A-Drei was overseeing the Kirschbaum pilot testing, and L-Elf had said he would be busy.

In their stead, L-Elf had given him an instruction booklet. It contained everything they would need for the meeting, L-Elf had said.

Satomi sighed before snapping to attention once the ship opened and a man came down.

"Well, well, well. So that's one of them Valvraves I hear so much about? Man, what a beauty. Knew making the delivery myself was worth it!"

He was tall, Satomi noted. Probably about as tall as Juto, though his build was thinner. His hair was long and messy and his eyes were a dark shade of blue.

In contrast to Satomi who was in full uniform, the man wore appallingly casual clothes. The sleeves of his shirt were torn off and his pants sported a number of oil stains. He had a jacket tied around his waist and his right arm had a hammer tattoo on it.

Satomi recognized him immediately from the dossier L-Elf had given him.

His name was Reed Grimm.

Vice-Commander of Black Hammer.

Black Hammer was a mercenary group which specialized in smuggling operations. If you needed something moved without the law getting in the way, they were the guys to go to.

They also had little problems stealing, for the right price.

In plain terms, they were pirates.

Satomi could feel Otamaya tensing up next to him. He couldn't blame him. He was fighting the urge to do the same.

"Mr. Grimm," He began, taking a step forward. "We welcome you to-"

"Hey, can I check it out?" The mercenary interrupted, pointing at the purple Valvrave.

"… I beg your pardon?"

"Your giant robot," Grimm said, pointing at Unit-6. "I want to check it out. Take a look at the cockpit. Always wondered what power source those things were using. Has to be nuclear. I have a bet with one of the guys back at the HQ. Man, they are going to be so jealous."

Satomi and Yusuke stared.

"You want to 'check out' our most powerful military weapon made with highly advanced, highly classified technology?" Satomi repeated, disbelief in each of his words.

Grimm nodded. "In a nutshell, yeah."

"Instead of going over the list of supplies you just brought over like we are supposed to and finalizing the necessary monetary transactions?" Satomi added, eyebrow twitching.

"Pretty much, yeah," Grimm said, waving a hand. "Don't know if you have noticed, but guys like me don't usually take care of grunt jobs like these. I just wanted a chance at the Valvrave."

There were stars in his eyes as he took in the technological marvel.

"Besides, the machines can take care of all the other stuff. It's all automated nowadays," the mercenary added.

He wasn't wrong. The entire process was mostly superfluous given the technology at their disposal. Going over every box marking checkboxes and signing sheets was not really required.

A vein throbbed in Satomi's forehead.

He really didn't like this guy.

Luckily, he had L-Elf. Not physically, but the booklet given to him had instructions on how to act during any given scenario during the drop-off.

Reed Grimm had been included in the booklet.

At the time he first read it, Satomi had wondered about the instructions written. Now, though, he understood perfectly.

Satomi spoke. The words came out jumbled and barely audible. Solid instructions or not, this was still a dangerous man he was talking to. It was quite different from reading L-Elf's instructions from the safety of a command center.

"Huh? What was that?" Grimm said, putting a hand on his ear and leaning closer to the students. "Can I check out your super robot or what?"

"I said," Satomi said, taking a step forward and mustering as much bluster as he could, "that won't do. That won't do at all!"

Grimm raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And just what would do?"

Satomi tried very hard not to whimper. Beside him, Yusuke was holding the stack of documents he had been entrusted with like a shield.

"We are going to go over the boxes. All of them. Then you're going to sign those documents," Satomi said, pointing to the stack of papers Yusuke had. "Then I'm going to sign whatever document I am sure you brought and finalize payment. Finally, you are not getting near the Valvrave."

Satomi could hear Yusuke gasp behind him. Truth be told, he could scarcely believe he had managed to say all that.

Grimm crossed his arms. "Oh, and how exactly are you going to make me do that?

"Akira," Satomi said, raising his voice. "This person wants to get his greasy hands on Unit-6. What do you say to that?"

The purple Valvrave slammed its fist into the floor, denting it.

Grimm stared for a moment.

"Okay, I see your point," he said. "But do you really think you should be treating me like this? After all, Black Hammer is one of the few organizations that will deal with you kids right now."

Satomi was ready for this question.

"Mister Grimm, I have known you for less than five minutes, but somehow I don't think your partners would mind," he said, quoting L-Elf's instructions word for word.

Grimm was silent for a moment before a smile broke across his face. "Alright," he said, chuckling. "Good, I'm starting to like you kids. Alright, let's get this over with."

As Yusuke sighed in relief, Satomi allowed himself a smile.

L-Elf's instructions really were the best.

Satomi understood if he kept living like this he might never become the person his parents wanted him to be.

It didn't matter. Not anymore.

Satomi liked the person he was becoming.

xXx

There was one thing Kibukawa had learned during the months after that first Dorssian attack.

Working with L-Elf was not easy.

Don't get him wrong. When talking about L-Elf, the word competent failed to do him justice. L-Elf's skill was, frankly, nothing short of mind-boggling. In many ways, the young man's brain was every bit as unnatural as the abilities of the Valvrave pilots.

However, the brilliance that made him so valuable also made it incredibly hard to keep up with his thought process.

So of course, when L-Elf called him and asked him to help him pinpoint every territory in JIOR that could be used for weapon manufacturing, it was natural for Kibukawa to feel a little lost.

"You want to locate possible facilities used by the Valvrave project?" Kibukawa asked.

Sitting opposite to him, L-Elf nodded. "You are the current expert on the subject," L-Elf said by way of reply. "If someone has any idea where to start looking, it would be you."

Left unsaid was that L-Elf had already gone as far as he could with his own research. The information remaining in the laboratories of Module 77 was not sufficient for his needs.

Kibukawa raised an eyebrow. "I would not call myself an expert. I was an army engineer. My resume was impressive enough to get me roped into the Valvrave project. Eventually, I made my ethical concerns known and was... demoted."

And so Kibukawa, Secret Agent, had become Kibukawa, High School Teacher.

"Besides, if we are talking about the Valvrave project, there was always only one true expert," he added.

L-Elf sighed. "Tokishima Soichi."

In his short life, there were many things L-Elf regretted. Not being there when Haruto decided to leave the leading man behind the Valvrave project in Dorssian hands was not at the top, but it certainly made it to the ranking.

Not that he was in any position to throw stones. His emotional state during that mission had been far from the best.

"He was the only one who really knew everything about the Valvrave project," Kibukawa said, saving L-Elf from being drawn into painful memories. "You must understand the project was highly secret. There were people who participated in the Valvrave project that have no idea they did so."

The project had been heavily segmented. The Valvraves may have been assembled in Module 77, but the only Valvrave parts built in the Module were the Rave and Mirror Rave Engines.

Building weapons made with heavily experimental technology was not cheap. Moving that sort of money around without anyone noticing was next to impossible. In the end, JIOR had not been able to escape notice, but they had tried.

Valvrave parts had been manufactured in a number of different facilities all over JIOR territories and brought to Module 77 disguised as different types of cargo for the final assembly.

"I am not after specifics of the project. Not exactly," L-Elf said, putting a folder on his desk and sliding it towards Kibukawa. "I just need your professional opinion."

Kibukawa opened the folder. His eyes widened as he looked at the contents.

"These... these are-"

"Kagerou," L-Elf said as Kibukawa leafed through the pages. "I assume you can deduce why I consider them important."

"Dorssia has already delivered ten Kirschbaum," Kibukawa said, still looking at the documents.

"The Kagerou offer possibilities."

Kibukawa lifted his gaze from the papers. "We have less than one hundred students. I am sure you can understand why turning even more of our population into pilots could be problematic."

The accusation in Kibukawa's tone was easy to hear.

"The Kagerou can be remote controlled," came the reply from L-Elf. It was all that needed to be said. Kibukawa's eyes widened in understanding.

Module 77's biggest weakness in terms of military power was its low population. Individually the Valvraves were superior to any other machine out there, but without numbers, they could only be used for defensive purposes.

However, if the Kagerou could be remote controlled, a number of possibilities were opened.

"Besides," L-Elf added. "The Kagerou parts can be used to fix Valvraves. We will need them if we are to survive."

"You know," Kibukawa said, looking at the documents again. "I can't help but notice you have not told me how you came to know about the Kagerou in the first place."

"Indeed, I did not."

A moment of silence passed over them.

"The information is not relevant at the moment."

Of course it wasn't.

Kibukawa sighed. "Will it ever be relevant?"

L-Elf actually considered the question for a moment. "Perhaps, but I hope that is never the case."

That bad, huh?

"Alright, give me a map." Kibukawa wished he had a smoke at the moment. "I am not sure how much help I can be, but I'll try my best. What exactly are we looking for?"

"Manufacturing facilities," L-Elf said as he proceeded to put a map of JIOR on the table. "Not small ones. Circuitry can be shipped over from nearly everywhere without raising too many eyebrows, but bigger parts are harder to move around."

"Natural resources?"

L-Elf shook his head. "Not for now at least. Earth territory is too dangerous for us to venture into. I want to focus on the Modules."

Part of Kibukawa was relieved. Going over the Earth territories would make things even harder. JIOR was far from small and the number of places a manufacturing facility could be hidden was numerous.

"You do realize even without those, there are still over a hundred Modules to go over?"

Resources. Shipments. Space. Population density. Even with his knowledge of the Project, the task was far from easy.

The expression on L-Elf's face told him all he needed to know.

Kibukawa sighed. They were looking at one long night. "I'll go make some coffee."

"Please do."

xXx

Christopher Watson had never been more nervous.

He held onto the podium they had given him with sweaty hands and wished it were bigger. That way he could hide behind it.

All around him, people were busy working, getting ready for the big moment. This was it. They had talked and planned, but in a few minutes, it would all become real.

"Nervous?" Barton asked. He stood behind him. To his sides were several key officers of the Module.

"Terrified," Watson replied without taking his eyes off the camera. Just a little more. The red light would go on and his face would be transmitted everywhere.

A rare flash of concern crossed Barton's aged face. "You could always back out. It is not too late yet," he said, voice low enough so no one else would hear him. Not that it was needed. The noise created by the people working all around them was cover enough.

"I thought about it," Watson admitted. "I couldn't sleep last night, even after we were done working. I stayed up staring out the window. Today's sunrise was beautiful. It is just a projection, but I wanted to forget about it all and flee into the horizon."

A bitter smile crossed his face.

"But no. Thanks but no. You taught me better than to run away. This is where I should be," he said, his voice growing in confidence with each word.

A mix of pride and sadness crossed Roderick Barton's face. The old man reached out to give Watson a friendly pat on the back before returning to his place.

"Sir, we are ready," one of the cameramen said.

Watson smiled. "Let's begin."

xXx

It began at once.

In Earth and space, several people detected the transmission coming from Module 60.

xXx

_"People of Earth. Moon colonists. Citizens of the Dyson Spheres, I bring to you a message!"_

xXx

Some of them knew of the signal well beforehand and did not waste time broadcasting it. Roderick Barton had a substantial number of contacts in several media outlets and had made good use of them.

Others were caught by surprise.

xXx

_"For too long JIOR has suffered!"_

xXx

In Module 77, Akira immediately blocked the signal just in case before sending it to L-Elf and only L-Elf.

xXx

_"...We were victims of Dorssia's cruelty and tyranny. Our cities were plundered. Our citizens, murdered..."_

xXx

"Mister President, you have to see this!"

xXx

_"... the world was content to watch as we died. We were abandoned by our allies on all sides..."_

xXx

Deep under the sea, an immortal monster with the face of a beautiful woman smiled.

xXx

_"... However, the people of JIOR are not done yet! Our leaders were killed. Our territories taken. Yet we remain! We will not fade away. We will not go quietly into the night!"_

xXx

"Commander Kriemhild! You have to see-"

"I'm already seeing it," Kriemhild said without taking her eyes off the computer screen before the poor soldier could finish his sentence.

xXx

_"That is why, right here and now, by the will of the people and the power invested in me, I, Cristopher Watson, declare once more the foundation of the Independent Republic of JIOR!"_

xXx

A country needed power. Power to defend its borders. Power to enforce laws. Power to protect its citizens. To so brazenly announce themselves in spite of the pathetic state of JIOR's military resources... using the information he had available at the moment, the conclusion L-Elf was led to was...

"They have found the Kagerou."

xXx

xXx

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And that's the end of that.
> 
> This starts the beginning of the first "real" arc. The Battle for Module 60 Begins!
> 
> Next Time!
> 
> The world reacts to Watson's declaration. Module 60 is now in the spotlight and different forces have their sights set on it. L-Elf has a plan. Haruto realizes he will have to make a choice soon. Meanwhile, dark forces ready themselves.


	11. Chapter 11

Special thanks to Zidana123 for betareading.

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Valvrave.

.

xXx

xXx

ARUS was a collection of countries.

It had all started with a series of trade agreements that came to be called the Transatlantic Treaty Organization. Those treaties had been followed by even more treaties and agreements between countries. As time passed these agreements and treaties evolved far beyond their original scope and turned a collection of countries into a single geopolitical power, a nation like no other.

That was the origin of the mighty ARUS.

However, while ARUS was a collection of countries, it was undeniable that some countries had a greater influence during its formation than others.

For example, the United States had been a major player during ARUS' formative years. As such it had influenced many aspects of ARUS' infrastructure, and the evidence of that influence could be seen on several levels.

For starters, the center of ARUS' government was located in the United States.

It was not the White House. Though the building had been offered for use, it had been deemed too small and old for the purpose.

Instead, the President's House had been built. It was bigger, leaner, and meaner. A fortress that projected the might of ARUS to all who saw it.

The President's House was having a busy day.

In the aftermath of Christopher Watson's speech, there was only chaos. People were running around all over the building taking and making calls.

Was the announcement a good thing or a bad thing? What did it mean for the old JIOR? Was it aliens again? What was the President's official stance on the subject? All those questions and many more plagued the government workers.

Surprisingly, the one person removed from the chaos was the president himself, Jeffrey Anderson.

"So, how are the Anti-Unidentified Lifeform Programs doing?" He asked his aide while reclining in his chair and lighting a cigar in his office.

"Sir?" His aide asked, not understanding the man's utter calm.

"The... what cute name did they give it? Protecting ARUS by Total Required Individual Optimal Testing Act?" He chuckled. "Who comes up with that stuff?"

"Ah yes," his aide said. "Attendance to the testing centers is booming right now. 32% of the population has already been tested. We estimate the process will be done by the end of the month."

The Act was one of those cute little stopgap measures politicians liked to use to distract the masses. It was a simple medical test to prove one lacked the ability to regenerate. After the test, the patient would be given a certificate and a special bracelet proclaiming his or her humanity for all to see.

In the current political climate being human was more important than ever.

People from all over ARUS were lining up to be tested. Those who didn't were soon peer-pressured into it. While there had been a few minor incidents of violence as a result, they were all within acceptable margins. It was far from the paranoia that would surely have reigned if things had been left alone.

Besides, Jeffrey thought with a smile, the chaos had allowed him certain opportunities.

It was such a shame certain businessmen had been found guilty of having links to the aliens. All their assets were frozen and later repossessed by the government.

For the good of mankind, of course.

While ARUS liked to advertise itself as the World Police, it was not much different from its main rival. What Dorssia accomplished through military might, ARUS did through "aggressive diplomacy" and "smart power".

"Sir?" His aide asked. "If I may ask something?"

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Shouldn't we be doing something? I mean, the announcement-"

"Peterson," Jeffrey said, raising his hand to stop him from talking. "What country is this?"

"Eh?" Peterson looked around, confused. "ARUS, sir?"

"Exactly," Jeffrey said. "We are in ARUS. Not JIOR. Whatever is happening out in JIOR's Sphere is none of our business. Let all their Modules declare themselves independent for all I care."

"B-but Module 77-"

"Module 77 was an irregularity," the president interrupted. "On all levels."

That had been such a spectacular mess. It had all seemed so simple at first. Get his hands on JIOR's secret weapon and rescue a bunch of kids. It was a golden opportunity! ARUS would get new technology to use against Dorssia, and the positive press that would come from rescuing the kids would be welcome a boon.

It had all gone to hell on so many different levels.

"Module 77 is the living proof of why concerning ourselves with these type of problems is a bad idea."

Then again, the president thought with a smile, the Magius would not have been exposed without those kids. Some good did come out of it.

Opportunity and risk were always tied together.

"Tell me something, Peterson," Jeffrey said with a deceptively kind voice. "Who are our enemies? Who are the biggest enemies of our nation right now?"

"Eh, Dorssia, sir?"

"Wrong!" Jeffrey yelled, slamming his hand on the desk. "It is true the people of Dorssia were once our foes, but not anymore. Something new has emerged. Something that threatens our very dignity as human beings!"

Dorssia also happened to be in the middle of a civil war which greatly reduced its geopolitical threat level.

"We face something new," the president said, putting his elbows on his desk and bridging his hands together. "We face the alien. Monsters are hiding among us, Peterson. They may wear human skin and speak with human voice but they are monsters. That is why I will not rest until I have rooted out every single one of those beasts from my country. Why on Earth should I care about playing politics with JIOR when my country needs help?"

For a moment, Peterson felt a surge of true red-blooded patriotism. He wanted to clap, to salute, to do something, anything. There was no doubt in his mind that the man in front of him was worthy of admiration.

JIOR's president was a fearsome man.

"Sir," he said and to his credit didn't quite flinch when President Anderson glared at him. "That is... admirable, but I'm afraid the government and the people will want an official stance on the subject."

Jeffrey sighed. "Of course they will." He pursed his lips in thought. "Alright, we will recognize them."

"Excuse me?"

"We literally lose nothing by doing it," the president explained. "If they succeed in their venture, they will look favorably on our gesture, and we can consider sending an official diplomatic envoy later."

In the best case scenario, they would establish good relationships with the new JIOR and gain yet another tool to add fire to Dorssia's civil war.

"If they crash and burn, then we have risked nothing. If they are revealed to be villains, we will release a strongly worded statement condemning their actions. That is all there is to it."

He sighed. Why did everyone have so much trouble over something so simple?

"O-of course, sir," Peterson said. "I'll make the arrangements for a press release."

"See that you do," the president said, dismissing his aide. He had far more important things to do now.

He had aliens to exterminate.

xXx

ARUS was not the only world power discussing recent events.

Valhalla was well-informed of what went on in the outside world. There was no chaos in the fortress for the Magius did not panic. Ever.

However, the atmosphere in the room where the Golden Seven gathered was suffocating. A normal person, human or Magius, would find it hard to speak inside.

Gylve, Master of the Council, was unbothered by the tension. The leader of the Magius calmly observed his brethren around the table. They were still missing a member. Mirko was keeping an eye on Doctor Tokishima and his inventions. Of the members present, most had severe looks on their faces.

"So," began the Magius with the youngest body in the room, Ivar. "I'm just going to say what we are all thinking here. That was one hell of a familiar face in that broadcast."

At once shouts and accusations flew around the room. Gylve fought the urge to sigh. Even after hundreds of years some things just refused to change.

"Enough."

His single spoken word was enough to bring order back to the room.

"Ivar, I realize you prefer young hosts, but you are more than mature enough to know that was not the best way to address a sensitive issue. Please, refrain from it in the future," He said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry. Won't happen again. Promise," Ivar said, looking properly chastised.

"Good," the Gylve said. "Regardless, you do raise a point. I would like to hear everyone's opinions on how to best proceed from here."

"They are not necessarily the same person," Marut said. While Ivar was bright and full of energy, Marut was dark and dour. His host was a plain-faced, middle-aged man with jet black hair and a rather skinny build.

"It could be a simple similarity. Descendants do exist," he said.

Ivar snorted, showing how little he thought of that idea.

"Or," he went on, not reacting to the interruption. "It could be that Soichi Tokishima neglected to inform us of something."

Silence settled over the room.

"It would explain some things," said Esfir, one of the two females in the room. "The man's understanding of Runes is unnatural for a human."

"If I recall correctly, Module 60 is one the Modules containing weapon manufacturing facilities for the Valvrave Project, according to the information given to us by Soichi Tokishima," Marut added. "It is unlikely the two aren't linked."

"Should we interrogate him then?" Esfir asked. "Truly interrogate him?"

When one could control the elementary particles of information there was little beyond reach. In theory, the principles used for hacking a computer using Runes could be applied to manipulate someone's brain.

Practice, however, was a completely different thing. A human brain was a far more complicated machine than a supercomputer and the information inside twice as sensitive.

Marut shook his head. "His mind would not be able to take a true interrogation and there is no guarantee we would find out what we were looking for. As things are now, we need him coherent."

There was a reason why using their powers to control someone else's brain was not standard procedure. It was too risky and too complex.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that's all very interesting," Ivar said, waving a hand around. "But, and do forgive me if I'm being a bit rude here: _how the_ _fuck did we not notice this_?"

"Language."

"Sorry, boss," Ivar said. "But you do see my point, right? This isn't some farmer in the middle of nowhere we are dealing with here. There is a limit to hiding in plain sight."

"Bear in mind there are less than a hundred of us," Marut pointed out, voice toneless. "While the growth of human population and their migration to space has been of benefit to us, it does make it harder to keep track of everything. We are not omniscient, no matter how much we pretend otherwise in front of humans."

Ivar huffed but said nothing.

"As fascinating as this exercise in humility is to watch, I cannot help but notice the Council has yet to make anything resembling an actual decision."

Everyone turned to look at the person who spoke.

"You actually spoke," Esfir said to the one other woman in the room. "How many years has it been since you last spoke in a meeting? Ten?"

"Ten and a half," corrected Ivar. "Just a little before Red Thursday. She insulted us back then too."

"I prefer to think of it as constructive criticism," Celia said. She was a beautiful woman with long red hair and blue eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Ivar grumbled.

"Celia, please," Gylve said. "While you are free to speak your mind in this room as a member of the Golden Seven, do mind your attitude. There is no need for petty fights among us, especially right now."

"Of course, Gylve," she said, not thinking twice about addressing him by name. "I will rephrase myself then. Module 60 has acted. While it is important to prevent events like this from repeating in the future, dealing with the actual problem is far more important at the moment. What shall the Council do?"

"As things are now, we don't control enough military bases in space territories," Marut said. "Ever since the Unveiling, the Spheres have been in chaos, and sending too many forces up there would leave some of our assets on Earth unprotected. However, there are certain forces that could be persuaded to act in our favor."

"We bribe a couple of would-be dictators with shiny weapons then?" Ivar summed up. Marut narrowed his eyes at him.

"Put crudely, yes."

Esfir crossed her arms. "This is not something we can just leave to random humans. Putting aside their ability to accomplish the task, this is a sensitive matter, and space is volatile enough as it is. We do not need the wrong information to spread."

"There might be a way." All heads turned to look at the one who spoke, Pontus. "We do have one available asset. In fact, I'm surprised you have not thought about it yet given how much you defended him."

Marut raised an eyebrow. "You speak of Soichi Tokishima."

Pontus nodded. "His team has already proven itself during the attack on Whitesteel. Mirko's extraction would have been considerably harder without them."

"And here I thought you wanted the guy and everything related to him dead," Ivar said, putting his elbows on the table.

"I do." Pontus did not bother to deny it. "However, I defer to the wisdom of the Council. Furthermore, this would be an interesting test of his creation, wouldn't it?"

"Ho." Celia smiled. "You're finally saying something good, Pontus."

"Of course, she'd think so," Ivar grumbled under his breath.

Gylve considered Pontus' words for a moment.

"It is an interesting suggestion," he said at last. "Let us put it to a vote."

xXx

Celia was happy with recent events. The last time that happened was prior to what was now known as Red Thursday. It was a good indicator of what type of person she was.

"No announcement at all? Are you certain?" She asked.

She was in Pontus' room, waiting for him to arrive. In one hand she held a glass of wine and in the other a small green gem that glowed with energy.

"None whatsoever, my lady," a voice coming from the gem said. "I can only assume the announcement from Module 60 was blocked by the students in charge."

"Oh my," she said, bringing a hand to her mouth in mock shock. "First, they hide that poor girl's disappearance, and now they don't even tell the students about the restoration of their homeland. Well, I suppose there is no sense letting facts get in the way of proper governance."

Was this the influence of one of Cain's little disciples?

"That would appear to be the reason, my lady."

Gender was a curious thing, Celia thought while drinking. While it was true their original biological forms had genders, those flesh and blood bodies had been discarded a long time ago. Gender was, in essence, an irrelevant concept for them.

Yet, she was still "my lady" and if her body were male she would no doubt be "my lord."

"Their attitude aside, I must admit some disappointment in you," she said, taking a sip of wine. "You hold information that could start a great fire if used correctly, yet you have limited yourself to your orders: observe and report. How boring."

There was silence for a moment.

"I am sorry for disappointing you, my lady. However, I cannot act freely while in Module 77. The low number of students does not allow me to do so. I am too noticeable as it is already."

"You are a boring man," Celia concluded. "However, I am a merciful woman. You are allowed to stay put for now, but I do want you close to the action. Just in case. Now, say thank you."

"...Thank you, my lady," the voice said.

"You are welcome. Now go and be a good spy," Celia said as she cut off the communication. The green gem lost its glow. She looked at the door. "You can come in now. It is your room after all."

A moment passed before Pontus opened the door and walked in.

"I did not want to intrude on your conversation," he said. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I see you have helped yourself to my wine."

"Unlike you, I have no problems intruding," Celia said, raising her cup without shame. "You did a good job in today's meeting, by the way."

"You praise fills me with shame, I assure you," Pontus said with an expressionless mask on his face. The older man turned his back to her and moved to pour himself a drink.

"Then perhaps some criticism will make you happy then. I said I was happy, but aren't you being a little naive?" Celia asked, holding her thumb and index fingers less than an inch apart.

"Are you expecting them to die in the crossfire? Your real target is Tokishima. You do remember that, right? He is not going to be out there fighting. Do you want to separate him from his assets or are you perhaps hoping his son losing will make him look bad?" Celia asked, trying to figure out his plan.

It was, Pontus decided, far more natural from her than praise.

"None of those," Pontus said, taking a sip from his cup. "I do have an actual plan. Please try to have some faith in me."

"I don't believe in faith," came the swift reply.

Pontus sighed. "That explains entirely too much. Regardless, I don't have any intention of disclosing my plan to you of all people."

Celia placed a hand over her heart. "You'd be so cruel to your only collaborator?"

"That you think I am stupid enough to place any trust in you offends me," Pontus said. "No. You will watch the events unfold in the same way as everyone else. My pieces are in motion and, by the end of it all, know that Tokishima Soichi and the abomination he calls son will be dead."

Celia studied Pontus for a few moment.

"You know, there is something about watching someone grow up and trade the sword and shield for the cloak and dagger. It warms my heart. Pontus, I am proud of you."

As she wiped away an imaginary tear from her eye, Pontus couldn't help but curse that this woman was his only ally in the Inner Council.

xXx

There were two types of Dorssian soldiers after the Unveiling.

Those who had chosen a side and those who had made their own side.

After Chancellor Amadeus was revealed to be a Magius, conflict on a scale not seen since Red Thursday erupted all over Dorssia.

Some soldiers stayed loyal to the government. Others had either joined the Royalists or had been Royalists all along. The utter abandonment of Module 60 by Dorssian forces was not a unique event. Civil war raged on Earth and the Dorssian spheres. The soldiers were smart enough to know where they were needed.

However, not all were rushing to take part in the civil war.

The invasion of JIOR had created several opportunities. When even captains had command over an entire module and had loyal troops at their disposal, it was hard not to get ideas. Many of the soldiers, feeling betrayed by their homeland, were desperate for leadership. Some people would find it very easy to take advantage of a situation like that.

Joseph Kurcz was one of those people.

He was a Colonel of the Dorssian Army who had been entrusted with the pacification of JIOR Sphere 1 Modules 12 through 14.

He was a thug.

Every aspect of the man radiated violence. His powerful muscles strained his uniform. His unkempt beard was completely at odds with regulation and the ape-like grin on his face was every bit as threatening as an angry glare.

Kurcz was a thug. He had been a big kid who found out he could push around smaller kids and had refined that talent ever since. He rose through the ranks of the army by dint of beast-like instinct.

In many ways, he was the opposite of people like Cain Dressel.

However, in spite of all his negative qualities, this man had something important. He had the respect of his men. It was a respect he commanded for one single reason.

He was strong.

Kurcz rose with beastly strength and he led with beastly strength. With every battle won, with every crushed enemy, his men learned to trust that strength. His men learned to believe in that strength. It was a primitive type of charisma, and it worked for him. Under it, his men had grown loyal and strong.

After the Unveiling, they did not panic. They did not flee.

They waited for his orders.

Back then, even as he saw visions of the looming civil war, Joseph had smiled. He had smiled because he saw not only war but opportunity.

He had an army of soldiers at his command. He had food and weapons. He had territories and citizens.

Like a warlord of old, Joseph Kurcz had taken command. It was insubordination. It was a betrayal of his homeland and his people. The righteous course of action was obviously to return to the motherland and protect the citizens from the coming war.

He hadn't.

Instead, he had gathered his men and given them a choice. Either go back to Dorssia or stay in JIOR and live like kings.

"Gentlemen, look around you!" He had said with his arms spread wide. "All of this. The people. The city. The wealth. It is ours now! We took it. We conquered this and no one can take it away from us! You want to leave it all behind and fight for a king you've never met? You want to leave it all for some fucking aliens? Fine! I won't stop you. As for me, I'm taking what's mine and you're more than welcome to follow me!"

His men had made their choices. Some had gone and he had allowed that. There was no point in forcing them to stay.

Most had stayed.

And thus, Joseph Kurcz, Dorssian Colonel, had become Joseph Kurcz, dictator of Modules 12, 13, and 14. He hadn't made some grand announcement to the rest of the world (he wasn't an idiot), but he was running things now.

The people living in the Modules had not noticed the change. After all, it was the same people in charge and Joseph hadn't bothered to tell them about his change in allegiance. There was no point in letting them know he never planned to leave this place.

Not yet.

Instead he had made a few changes.

First of all, he lifted curfew.

The citizens had reacted suspiciously at first, but as the days passed they had learned to accept the little bit of regained freedom.

It wasn't like the citizens posed an actual threat to him and his men. A good portion of the Modules' original male population had been taken to Dorssia as prisoners. Furthermore, JIORian gun control laws ensured the citizens lacked the weapons to fight them. The few weapons present in the Modules had all been confiscated by his men.

The communication ban stayed in place. He didn't want them communicating with their fellow JIORians. Communication led to organization and he wasn't going to have any of that. He certainly didn't want the rest of the world knowing what he was doing here.

Instead, he gave them booze.

He had every liquor store and bar opened up and declared everything there free to drink. Age restrictions no longer mattered. Everyone could drink to their heart's content.

As it turned out, it didn't take much to get a bunch of scared and angry people to drink. It certainly didn't take much to convince them to do it in excess. Within hours, the territories under Kurcz's control descended into a wild mix of alcohol, loud music, and sex.

It was not a joyous celebration by any stretch of the imagination.

It was born out of desperation. It was people trying really hard to forget what their actual situation was by drinking themselves into a stupor. The people wanted to be deaf. They wanted to be blind. They wanted to be numb.

Kurcz indulged them.

Eventually, he would send his soldiers marching into the streets and bring order back.

For now, he was happy right where he was. His men were taking care of security and he had traded his living quarters inside the ship for the governor's mansion. He was pleased to find out the ex-governor of Module 15 had a respectable liquor collection, a comfy couch, and damn good cigars.

Yes, Kurcz thought as he puffed out rings of smoke, life was good, and if he played his cards right it would only get better.

It was at that moment one of his men chose to burst into his room.

"Sir, we have a problem!" He said.

"What did I say about interrupting me?" Kurcz asked in a deceptively light tone as he fixed the man with a glare.

The soldier froze for a moment. "S-sir! My ap-pologies! It's just... Sir, it is the Helhest Company! They are here!"

Joseph Kurcz swore.

The Helhest Company was an independent army, one of the biggest and oldest ones around. They were mercenaries, good ones at that. While Kurcz liked a good fight as much as the next guy, he did not care for getting caught with his pants down.

"Are you positive?" He asked the soldier.

The soldier nodded. "Completely, sir. It's one of their ships. We... sir, we couldn't detect it all. It just appeared on the radar."

Kurcz fought the urge to break something.

Was Dorssia hiring mercenaries to keep their defectors in line? No, if they were hiring mercenaries, they would use them on the frontlines of the civil war. Focusing on a few JIORian Modules was pointless.

JIOR then? Joseph considered the option for all of one second before discarding it. JIOR was too much of a mess to do something like that right now. Even if that one idiot had declared the foundation of a new JIOR, it didn't really mean anything. They were too vulnerable to risk something like this.

That left ARUS, but he doubted it. Was it an independent action then? Or had someone new gotten involved?

"Alright," he said after taking three deep breaths. "Patch them through the governor's office. I'll talk to them there."

If they wanted to attack, they would have done so already.

"That's an order, soldier," he added when he saw the man was not moving. The soldier snapped into attention and left to follow his orders. For his part, Kurcz took a seat in the governor's desk, cigar in hand.

Two minutes later, a monitor came down from the ceiling in front of him.

Joseph blew a ring of smoke if only to give himself time to think.

"Well, well, well," he said with more confidence than he felt, sitting on his chair like it was a throne. "Look who came to visit me. Long time no see, Gustav."

The man on the other end of the screen was dark-skinned and shaved bald. Under the black and white uniform of the Helhest Company, he was all lean muscle with barely an ounce of fat.

Kurcz knew him and thus knew his situation was not just bad. It was so much worse than it could be. This wasn't a random Company Leader he was dealing with.

Gustav Daina was the General Commander of the entire Helhest Company.

Joseph Kurcz wouldn't call him an old friend, but they had fought on the same side more than once. During those battles, he had learned the leader of the Helhest Company had more than earned his rank.

He had horrible taste in alcohol, though. Kurcz's mouth twisted in distaste as he remembered those wimpy ass chardonnays the man had been so proud of.

Sadly, the man's taste in weapons wasn't bad at all. If he was here, it was safe to assume whatever ship he had brought was adequately equipped to protect him... which meant it was armed to the teeth. Then there was the possibility of even more ships. It was not like his men had noticed the first one until it was right on their faces.

"Good evening, Joseph," Gustav said. "I see you have moved up in the world. Congratulations are in order."

Kurcz grinned in a distinctively ape-like way.

"What can I say?" He said, spreading his arms to gesture to the luxury around him. "I saw an opportunity and I took it. You can hardly blame me for that, can you, old friend?"

Gustav shook his head slowly, almost mechanically. "I suppose not. It is not my business to judge others. I only seek to accomplish my objectives. As you may have guessed this is not a personal visit. It is business."

"I assumed so, yeah," Kurcz said. If they opened fire right away the Module's shields would hold but not forever. While the battle itself would no doubt provide some amusement, the possible loss of valuable troops and his newly gained citizens was not an attractive option.

He had just gotten all of this. He knew there were short-lived dictators, but he didn't want to add his name to their number.

"So," Kurcz began, "Dorssia hired you to bring me back... or maybe was it JIOR trying to get back a couple of Modules?"

The possibility that it was Gustav's idea wasn't even suggested. Kurcz knew better than that. If it had been, they wouldn't be having this conversation.

Gustav would have already attacked.

"Not quite," Gustav said, drawing a raised eyebrow from Kurcz. "Contrary to what you may believe, I did not come here to make you give up the Module. In fact, my current employer has no objections to your recent actions."

"Oh really? And what does this employer of yours want?" Kurcz asked, resting his cheek on his fist.

"I am here to present you with a... I believe the term used was 'mutually beneficial offer'."

xXx

"Absolutely not!"

Haruto slammed a fist against the wall. H-Neun cautiously took a few steps away from him. Haruto's eyes were a few shades too red and the last time that had happened one person had ended on the floor.

The one silver lining was that there weren't guards aiming their guns at them. They had stayed outside the briefing room this time.

In spite of lacking security personnel, Soichi Tokishima didn't look worried. Then again, maybe he didn't have to be.

After all, thought H-Neun, there was another monster in the room.

Amadeus K. Dorssia stood beside the mad scientist. Behind them was a map showing their next target.

JIOR.

A small part of him wanted to laugh and point out how the shoe was on the other foot now. He didn't. He had more sense than that. Q-Vier would have certainly pointed it out had he ever been smart enough to prefer irony over slapstick, but doing things because Q-Vier would have was a stupid idea in the first place.

"Now, now, son," Dr. Tokishima said in a tone H-Neun guessed was meant to be soothing but just came across as condescending. "This is a simple mission. Well, some lives will be lost, but they can hardly be considered to be consequential."

"Human lives are not inconsequential," Haruto snapped at his father.

For a brilliant man, Soichi Tokishima showed the ability to consistently pick out the worst things to say to motivate his son. Well, knowing the man, there was a chance that was precisely the point.

Haruto's eyes were completely red, and H-Neun guessed he was two tactless comments away from doing something stupid.

Perhaps sensing this, Amadeus chose to speak up.

"Be at ease, Tokishima Haruto," said the Magius, holding out his hand. "The goal of this mission is not the extermination of the Modules. Casualties have no reason to exceed the ones during my rescue from Whitesteel."

Haruto recoiled back as if struck. H-Neun could literally see the conflict play out behind red eyes which were rapidly cooling into blue. He could not keep arguing without tacitly stating Dorssian lives were less important than JIORian lives as far as he was concerned.

Even if he realized the difference between military and civilian casualties, Haruto was too much of a bleeding heart. Even if Haruto Tokishima could acknowledge his own hypocrisies... No. Rather, it was because he acknowledged his hypocrisies that this type of argument was extremely effective against him.

Even if he had admitted it to H-Neun, realizing it and doing something about it were two different things.

"Of course," Soichi Tokishima said. "You are not obligated to go along with the plan. You are free to do what you wish to as long as you are willing to face the consequences. I wouldn't object to having more Runes to work with."

And there was the carrot and stick rolled into one, H-Neun realized. The threat of the hostages. With that in play, the way a person thought about the situation would normally change. It was no longer a selfish act born out of self-preservation, but a necessary evil to save lives.

Wasn't it just nice how a person could so easily cast himself as a tragic hero even though he was doing the worst of things?

As far as he and Nao were concerned, the threat to their own lives was enough, but Tokishima Haruto was a different breed. He needed that type of persuasion, yet he was aware enough to realize it was a bunch of lies.

However, in the end, all he could do was turn his eyes away. He did not have enough power to save everyone and what little power he did have could only be used at the expense of someone else, a consequence he could not bring himself to accept.

In that way, Tokishima Haruto was kept successfully caged by his own mind.

"Well," Soichi Tokishima said, slapping his hands together. "With that cleared up, there is one more detail I would like to bring to your attention."

He grinned at his son who deliberately looked at any other place in the room but him. "I daresay your attitude towards this mission will be considerably more positive when you hear it all."

And so Soichi Tokishima gestured for Amadeus to explain and the Magius did so.

H-Neun swore.

xXx

"Do you think they are telling the truth?" Nao asked Haruto.

It was night already. At least they assumed it was. Keeping track of time when the base was underground had proven difficult, to say the least. There were a few clocks around, but who knew if those were telling the truth.

Truth was an annoyingly rare commodity, and there lay the problem.

"They have no reason to lie to us. They can already force us to do whatever they want," Haruto replied, not moving his head from his makeshift pillow.

"But they have no reason to tell us the truth either," Nao countered from her bed.

Haruto closed his eyes and nodded. "True."

Sometime during their captivity the two had started sharing a room. Nao had been the one to suggest it. She felt safer with Haruto than alone and surrounded by the gray suits. Haruto had opposed it at first, quite fiercely in fact. After all, he was a danger to others.

Nao had pointed out he was being fed Runes by his father. Plus, if he left her alone and she was attacked by someone she wouldn't be able to defend herself.

Haruto had caved in.

Nao had learned appealing to his sense of guilt was an effective tactic against Haruto.

Nao had brought the mattress from her room into Haruto's. Well, calling them rooms was a little too much. They were cells they could walk in and out of at will. The space was small. The pillows were hard and the mattress was uncomfortably thin.

Naturally, Haruto couldn't let Nao sleep on the floor like she wanted, mattress or not. There had been another round of arguing, one which he won this time. Nao would sleep on his bed while he would take the too-thin mattress on the floor.

It didn't bother him. It was not like getting a good night's sleep made a difference to him. The Runes supplied to him substituted all other necessities with worrying perfection. These past few days he had not felt the need to sleep more than a few hours in total.

"What are you planning to do?" Nao asked, turning in her bed to look at him.

"I don't know," he said and it was the truest thing he had said all day. In spite of dying and coming back, there was a part of him that was still stuck. He had been that way for a long time now. Ever since the day he gave up his humanity...

Haruto's thoughts were cut short as something landed on him. A yelp escaped his mouth once he realized the something on top of him was Nao.

"What are you-"

"Shhh!" Haruto barely squeaked a few words out before Nao silenced him by putting two fingers over his lips and, in a swift motion, pulled the covers over their bodies.

The part of him that was not human was not tempted by the sudden closeness of her skin. He had been fed well since arriving at the base.

The part of him that was both male and teenaged noticed her fingertips were soft and that, in spite of the lack of any type of perfume or scented soap in the base, Nao smelled nice.

"Keep your voice low," she whispered into his ear, inadvertently pressing their bodies closer together, forcing Haruto to several realizations about Nao's body. "I don't want them to hear us."

The cameras in the room, Haruto realized. It was no secret there were cameras all over the base. Whether someone was actually bothering to watch them was another issue entirely.

The gray suits were... not exactly all there.

However, the very real possibility that his father might be watching them at the moment had sobering effects on Haruto.

"I have been thinking about this... you could escape during the next mission," Nao whispered.

"Just think about it," she added quickly. "You don't have a Rune Absorber and we'll be in JIORian space."

Haruto closed his eyes. He had thought about it. Even if his Kagerou was booby-trapped in some way, Haruto was confident in his ability to get away. It wouldn't even be hard. He could go back to Module 77. He could return to everyone.

He would just need to make some sacrifices.

"If I leave, they wouldn't have as many reasons to keep you two alive," Haruto whispered back, frowning. "Not to mention the hostages..."

A few lives. That was all it would take. What were a few dozen people compared to the many lives he had taken? Where was the line between enemy and ally? Why did the difference between civilian and soldier matter so much?

"It is not the worst thing you could do," Nao replied in a toneless whisper. Haruto couldn't see her face at the moment, but he could imagine it devoid of any emotion.

Let them die.

That was the answer Ohta Nao offered to him.

"You are too important to the Module," she went on, her voice softening into a gentle whisper. "Maybe you haven't realized it, but you Valvrave pilots are all we have. Without you, we won't make it. The Dorssian. The hostages. Myself. If it helps you return to the Module, those sacrifices are worth it."

His life was worth more. That was all it came down to it.

Why should he care about protecting nameless people when his own country was in danger? Why stop for two people when he could save so many more outside? Haruto would be lying if he said he hadn't wondered those questions in his most selfish moments.

"Would you really trust someone who can sacrifice people so easily to protect anything?" Haruto asked with a bitter smile on his face.

Nao closed his eyes. She had expected that type of answer. He was, after all, a hero, and heroes were, above all, noble.

If she wanted to convince him, she was going to have to do more, and she was prepared for that.

"Do you remember the name Omar Khoury?" She asked, her voice wooden.

The unexpected question brought confusion to Haruto's face. He blinked before moving his head to better look at Nao.

Even in the darkness, he could see something glisten in her eyes.

"He was a... Dorssian politician, wasn't he?" Haruto asked, racking his brain for an answer. The name had gained some prominence during the three-month period during which they had been on the moon, but Haruto was not certain of the details. Keeping up with the news had not been a major concern for him back then.

Nao nodded. "Yes, he was a member of the Federal Diet. He was outspoken in his opposition against New JIOR, but he only gained real prominence after we landed on the Moon."

Once in neutral territory, Dorssia had not been able to attack them. Haruto could dimly recall there had been some unease about how safe their position there was, whether the Moon territories would actually shelter them from Dorssia or not.

"Khoury wanted the Moon to release us to face Dorssian justice. Normally, it would not have mattered, but he had important connections on the Moon," Nao said. As she went on her voice began to waver.

"They didn't think we were worth the trouble," Haruto said, eyes widening as his brain made the connection.

He knew this.

He had seen it in her memories.

"R-right." Nao nodded. "So L-Elf had us take action."

No.

"Khoury was coming to the Moon for negotiations. There was a high chance they would be successful. W-when the shuttle came... L-Elf said... we... Jin and I... we just shot it down."

Nao was trying hard not to cry, and Haruto wished there was anything he could say to make it better.

"It wasn't even a private flight," Nao added. "I looked up the passenger list after the act... there were children there."

"Nao, I am so sorry."

I am sorry. Those were the only words Haruto could think of.

Were those words any good?

They were words people used because they felt the need to say something when faced with someone who had suffered tragedy. From a certain perspective, they were selfish words designed to make the speaker feel good without regard for the listener.

They were words which lacked the ability to fix anything.

"I knew I was doing a horrible thing, but I did it anyway," Nao confessed to him. "If I didn't, we would all have been in danger. I did it to protect our country."

A bitter smile appeared on her face just as a tear slid down her cheek.

"It worked. With Khoury removed, his faction became disorganized. The attack was never linked to us, but they had their suspicions and were too scared of making another move like that. Everything L-Elf said came to pass. We were all able to remain on neutral territory."

Blue eyes full of tears met his and Haruto found himself paralyzed.

"Did I do something wrong, Haruto?"

The question and what she was truly asking were different.

Haruto understood and because he understood he could not deny her.

In order to protect the peace of Module 77, Nao had sacrificed something precious to her. The rest of the Module would never learn of it. They couldn't. Something vile had been done to secure peace and it had worked.

Haruto could not deny peace had been brought by those actions.

He could not tell Nao her actions had been unneeded when the opposite was so plainly obvious. He could not tell her there was a better way when he couldn't think of one. He could not tell her she had done wrong without denying her entirely.

Haruto Tokishima was both too kind and too aware to ever do something like that.

Haruto found himself at a loss for words in front of a girl who was both stronger and frailer than he had suspected. In the end, all Haruto Tokishima could do was reach out and hold Nao, his arms wrapping around her. Tears fell on his chest as the girl silently let out all the grief she had been holding in.

It was not a proper answer. Not yet.

However, time, merciless in its march, would not be content to wait forever.

When the time came, Tokishima Haruto would surely regret not being able to reach an answer on his own.

xXx

With Module 77's dome fixed and the clean-up crew's work done, the students were free to move to the upper levels once again.

The student government no longer needed to gather in the small conference room once used by the scientists of the Valvrave project. Instead, they used one of the many office buildings of Module 77. Less than a year ago the room was used for important conferences between majority shareholders. Now it was the members of the government of New JIOR who occupied the seats.

Today's meeting had been called by L-Elf. Too many things had happened and he could not afford to keep it all hidden anymore.

He had shown them Christopher Watson's declaration and the pictures sent by Kriemhild. A-Drei had then given a short report on the attack on a Dorssian base by the Kagerou which had been followed by a brief explanation on what little they knew about the machines.

He had not told them the full truth. Although Kibukawa had argued with him on the matter, the truth behind Ohta Nao and the now deceased Hinomoto Jin was not something he wanted to share with anyone.

He had just told them what they needed to know.

His eyes carefully scanned the room, gauging everyone's reactions. The initial shock and surprise were expected. Sadly, realization only hit a few of them. It was a pity, but they were still just students in a number of ways. That a few of them realized the full depth of the situation was the best he could expect for now.

"When did this happen?" The first question came from Saki who cast a suspicious gaze in L-Elf's direction. "And why are we hearing about this just now?"

"The message was broadcasted yesterday at approximately 8:00 PM. I was notified of this by Renbokouji Akira who was quick to block the transmission on Module 77." L-Elf nodded at the hacker whose gaze was firmly locked on her phone.

"Akira?" Satomi looked at her in confusion. "Why would you do something like that?"

Somehow the petite redhead seemed to become even more interested in the screen of her phone. "Because," she said, her eyes looking down, "I didn't want the others to betray us."

Her words were barely audible, but there was no mistaking the hurt hidden beneath them.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

L-Elf had not expected it, but he more than approved of her quick thinking. It was a good thing they had not yet restored communication lines with the outside world. Hiding the information from the students would have been impossible otherwise.

L-Elf did not plan on hiding it forever, but the way the students were introduced to this information needed to be controlled.

"Unfortunately, it is as she says," L-Elf said after he felt the silence had done its job. "The circumstances under which the current status quo was stablished were not at all democratic."

Guilty looks flashed around the table. They could sugar-coat it however they wanted, but they had used the student's lives as leverage to get their way.

It might have been L-Elf's idea, but they had all agreed to it.

"If the students were to learn a new option has become available to them, cohesion in the Module could be lost due to misguided choices."

"Would it really be a misguided choice?" Takahi asked. "They are citizens of JIOR, just as we are. Are we really going to try to form a country with less than 100 people? If they are willing to take us in, I don't see any problem in letting them."

"That's a pretty big 'if' you're talking about," Saki said. There was a faint mocking undertone in her voice. "JIORian or not, everyone out there thinks we are monsters. You do remember what all the supposed allies we had did once they found out there were non-humans here, right?"

Akira did not speak but the furious way in which she nodded after Saki spoke showed she more than shared the idol's thoughts on this matter.

As the only two Kamitsuki in the room, it was only natural.

Takahi flushed with anger.

"Rukino Saki speaks the truth," L-Elf said, effectively cutting off the argument before it could begin. The last thing he needed was for this conversation to be steered towards whether a merger with Module 60 was a good idea or not.

"The anti-Magius sentiment on Earth and Space is quite strong right now. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, there is no difference between a Magius and a citizen of Module 77. We would just be putting the students in danger by letting them believe joining these people is a valid option."

An alternative that would not give birth to the place Liselotte and Haruto wished for was not worth considering.

"There is also the existence of the Kagerou to consider," L-Elf added.

"Funny, I was just about to ask about those," Saki said with a smile that was too sweet to be genuine. "Mainly, why did you feel the need to make us aware of them only in relation to the events in Module 60?"

Her eyes told him she was certain he wouldn't let them know of the situation otherwise.

She was right.

"While the use of a stealth system during the attack heavily implies Magius influence, it is unlikely the Magius built the machines," L-Elf said, choosing to ignore Saki's question in favor of focusing on the subject at hand, not that Saki had expected a genuine answer in the first place. "Most likely, they found them within the JIORian territories they conquered and modified them to suit their needs."

"You must understand the Valvrave project moved a lot of resources around. Module 77 was where everything was assembled but manufacturing all the parts here would have raised too many eyebrows," Kibukawa said, pushing up his glasses. "There were a number of factories all over JIOR. We believe it is possible for the Kagerou to have been manufactured in some of these."

Satomi's eyes widened. "So when Dorssia invaded JIOR..."

"They got a nice surprise present as a bonus," Saki finished for him. "Good things happen to bad people. What a surprise."

"It is not just them," L-Elf said. "Think about it: why would a small collection of Modules so boldly declare their independence? They might as well be inviting the enemies of JIOR to attack them."

"We did the same thing," Takahi couldn't help but say. Her eyes widened. "We did it because we had the Valvraves."

Kibukawa nodded. "The Valvraves might not have been a perfect deterrent against all enemy attacks, but they were a more than appropriate defense against them."

Yusuke adjusted his glasses. "So you're saying it is really likely those guys found these robots in their Module and that's why they are feeling confident about announcing themselves?"

L-Elf nodded. "It is the conclusion I am led to."

"For the sake of the argument, let's say you are right. One of the factories is there and these people found it and are planning on using the Kagerou to protect themselves from enemy attacks. What exactly are we supposed to do about it?" Saki asked, purple eyes looking directly into L-Elf's blue ones.

A sad and tragic life had given Saki a tendency for assuming the worst of people. As much as she learned to like L-Elf (she had not forgotten the note he had left for her when she was left behind on Earth), she was also painfully aware of the fact that he was, in a word, L-Elf.

"We need the Kagerou," L-Elf replied. His blue eyes held nothing but resolute conviction.

Saki's eyes narrowed. Around the table, there were varying reactions to those words.

"I thought that was what the Kirschbaum were for?" Yusuke asked, confused. "We are even holding pilot tests right now."

He tried to say it like he did not care that much about them. The truth was he had tried the simulation and his dreams of being a giant robot pilot had been smashed by a giant asteroid before the tenth second.

"As a weapon, the Kirschbaum possesses several limitations. The energy needed to keep it in fighting shape alone is significant, and most of our students lack the physical conditioning required to pilot one."

He might have been training the students for the past few months, but he was not a miracle worker. It did not help that Haruto had vetoed his original exercise plan for the students due to being too extreme.

"We are not trying to tire them to death," he had said. Sashinami had backed him up and that had been that.

"Unlike the Kirschbaum, the Kagerou were designed to be remote-controlled units piloted by the average soldier. The skills required to operate them are considerably lower, yet the machine specs are not wildly different."

JIOR's technology was dangerously impressive. The Kagerou may lack the sheer power of the Lowenglitzen, but they more than made up for it in other aspects. The Kagerou were easy-to-use mass-produced machines that did not risk the pilot's life. Any average high-school student could literally fall into the cockpit and stand a good chance at figuring out the controls within a few minutes.

It was a frightening prospect on several levels.

"In theory it should also be possible to use the Kagerou's parts in order to repair the Valvraves," L-Elf added. There were many reasons why acquiring the Kagerou was a good idea, but L-Elf knew this one in particular would have the bigger impact.

It was amazing how one sentence could change things. Hesitance was replaced by interest. Confusion put aside in favor of resolution. No one could deny the Valvraves were vital to the continued existence of Module 77.

Even if they had ten elite pilots to go with the ten Kirschbaum, things would not change. They would not be able to protect the Module from a real attack. Only the Valvraves could command the respect, fear, and awe necessary to let a group of schoolkids stand on a global stage.

"That's all really interesting and all," Saki spoke up, her eyes fixed on L-Elf. "However, how exactly are you proposing we get these machines? You were not exactly keen on negotiation with them just now. Are you planning on having us look all over JIOR for them?"

She leaned in, purple eyes almost glowing. "Or maybe you were planning on taking them by force?"

How did one convince a country to give up military resources to a group whose good reputation was dead and buried? L-Elf's deal with the Royalists worked because there was a pre-existing relationship in place.

Those conditions did not apply here. Christopher Watson and his aides knew little about them and were not likely to trust them. Furthermore, cooperating with Watson's government meant, on at least one level, legitimizing them as an actual successor of JIOR.

L-Elf was not attached to the name, but there were certain advantages tied to it he was not keen on losing. His mind had already gone over the dozens of options available to them. Taking action unilaterally was the best course of action. He just needed to convince everyone of the fact.

L-Elf's gaze swept around the table before settling on Saki. She knew. She understood what he wanted and did not agree. That was fine. He had expected that.

Now, it was his turn to attack.

"It would be the most expedient course of action," L-Elf admitted without a hint of shame.

At once objections and confused yells erupted around the table. L-Elf let the noise go on for a while before speaking.

"Do you wish to die?" He asked, slamming his hand into the table. Fierce blue eyes looked at the assembled people. Only a few were able to meet his gaze.

"Module 77 needs power. If we fail to obtain it, we will die. Make no mistake on that. As we speak, ARUS is already rounding up people on suspicion of being aliens. It is only a matter of time before they turn their gaze on us. In the best case scenario, we would end up becoming nothing more than attack dogs for the Royalists. "

He let that statement sink in. He doubted anyone was keen on the idea of changing their nationality to Dorssian. More importantly...

Haruto. Liselotte. He would not let their sacrifices be in vain.

"People have died believing in the goal we have set for us. We... we cannot afford to let their sacrifices be in vain," L-Elf said with naked emotion. Even A-Drei was taken back at this display.

This was not Cain's perfect soldier. This was the boy who had fallen in love with a woman he had interacted with for less than three hours and taken on a country for her sake. This was an existence both frailer and infinitely more dangerous than the One-Man-Army.

"It is not that I don't understand what you are saying," Satomi said, holding his head in his hands. "But this is just too much... You are asking us to attack JIORian soil, JIORian _lives_."

L-Elf considered his words for a moment

"I assume the same can be said of all of you then?" L-Elf asked. "The danger to JIORian lives is too big a price in your minds."

Some nodded. Others just stared carefully at him.

"What if there was no risk?" L-Elf asked.

Takahi spoke for everyone. "What?"

Few people would have been able to pick out the smugness in L-Elf's face. "What if I could guarantee there will be no casualties?"

Minimal causalities, at any rate.

"And how, pray tell, do you plan on doing that?" Saki asked with heavy skepticism.

L-Elf told them.

"You're crazy." No one was quite sure who said it first but everyone was thinking it. Except A-Drei.

"You all know me," E-Elf said. "You have seen what I can do. My predictions are prophecies. Can any of you honestly say you would be alive were it not for my plans? I have more than proven my abilities time and time again."

"That was us trusting you with our lives," Saki said. "Not the lives of others."

"Tokishima Haruto made me promise that I would not sacrifice the lives of JIOR," L-Elf said. "I intend to keep that promise."

He had not. The exact wording had referred to the lives of the students. Rukino Saki did not know that, and she did not need to know that. She just needed to believe Haruto had said it because Tokishima Haruto's name still carried power.

Invoking the name alone was enough to get her to, however reluctantly, switch over to his side.

And just like that, the tide began to turn.

xXx

xXx

.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And that's that for now. With this chapter the story is officially caught up to the FF.Net version. 
> 
> The next chapter should be a short interlude with the Module 77 kids. Let's call it, Before we go to War.
> 
> Time for Shoko's comeback! 
> 
> If you like this story, consider checking out my other works and if you like those check out my books on Amazon (links available in my profile). Until next time and don't forget to comment.


	12. Interlude: Before We Go To War

Special thanks to Zidana123 for beta-ing. I recommend you all take the opportunity to go over the previous chapters. They are now largely mistake-free.

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Valvrave.

xXx

Interlude: Before we go to War

xXx

It began with a question.

"Is Sashinami Shoko here?"

Saki raised an eyebrow as she looked up from her book, Polidori's _The Vampyre_ this time.

"L-Elf," she greeted the silver-haired Dorssian standing at her door. "Nice to see you too, and no, she's not here."

"But," she added, closing her book and putting it down. "I am guessing you already knew that."

L-Elf looked at her for a moment. "Why would you think so?"

Saki frowned. So that was how he wanted to play this? Fine then. "You've been avoiding her ever since she returned to the Module. Are you really telling me you haven't been keeping tabs on her through the security cameras?"

"I have no need to resort to that to avoid a high-school student," L-Elf replied in a way that made it seem like he was denying her words even though he really wasn't.

Saki sighed. Typical L-Elf answer.

"However," L-Elf added. "You are correct in assuming it is not her I wished to see."

"I am guessing this is not just a social visit then?" Saki asked. She sat at the edge of her bed and crossed her legs, causing her skirt to ride up a little. Just about every other male in the Module would have used the opportunity to peek at her thighs, but L-Elf's gaze didn't even waver.

Saki's right eye twitched. She didn't want him to look nor had she expected him to, but the complete lack of interest kind of pissed her off.

"It is about Sashinami Shoko," L-Elf said, and the way he said the name made Saki sit a little straighter. She knew that tone. It was the same one he had used back then. "Is she ready?"

Saki frowned. Echoes of a conversation that had happened a few weeks ago drifted to her ears.

_"It would be in our best interests if you kept an eye on her."_

Everything had seemed so simple back then.

"She's better. That's all I can really say," Saki said after taking a moment to consider her words. "She hasn't fully regained her confidence, but she is more stable now than she was a few weeks ago. However, if you expect her to be like the old Shoko, you'll be disappointed."

L-Elf considered her words for a moment. "Would she be able to perform her role?"

The question made her stomach perform a backflip. No, not just the question but the tone. The way L-Elf spoke about Shoko was detached, clinical... unfeeling. Then again, she hadn't exactly been feeling all that empathetic towards Shoko when she had agreed to L-Elf's suggestion.

"Already?" Saki asked.

"Recent events necessitate it," L-Elf replied, his blue eyes coolly peering into hers. "Remember, to the rest of the world Sashinami Shoko is still the face of Module 77."

Saki smiled bitterly. Those words again. That had been how he sold her the idea the first time around.

It had been shortly after they had rescued the students drifting through space and before she had confronted Shoko. Back then, she had nothing but anger towards the former Prime Minister.

When L-Elf had suggested she approach Shoko in order to keep tabs on her, she had accepted.

She hadn't wanted to do it at first. Not out of respect for Shoko, but rather because she wanted nothing to do with the girl. However, she had been forced to admit L-Elf had a point. Her negative opinion of Shoko aside, Saki couldn't deny Shoko was too important to be left alone.

To the people outside the Module, Shoko was still the leader of Module 77 and to the people in the Module, Shoko was too significant to be ignored. Like it or not, she was an important existence for Module 77 and the probability of them needing her charisma in the future was high.

That was how L-Elf had convinced her.

Saki had accepted the job. She had kept an eye on Shoko and slowly rehabilitated her as per L-Elf's instructions, all for the day when they would need to use her.

It would have been easy if Shoko weren't so hard to hate.

"She's not ready for any type of public speaking," Saki said, shaking her head. "She's still too insecure. She'd never agree to it."

"I'm certain you can sway her opinion if the need arises," L-Elf said in a matter-of-fact tone. "She has become attached to you during these past days."

Saki's reply was instant. "Nope."

L-Elf raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"If you want to convince Shoko to do something, talk to her yourself," Saki said, shrugging. "You have been avoiding her long enough. I am not going to manipulate her for you."

"You agreed to this," L-Elf reminded her, his eyes narrowing so slightly she would have missed it entirely had she not known him better.

"I did." Saki did not deny it. She stood up and walked up to L-Elf, meeting his gaze without fear. "I was so angry back then that I had forgotten it."

"Forgotten what?"

"I had forgotten that Shoko is a good person."

This time, there was no missing the narrowing of L-Elf's eyes. Most people in the Module would have averted their gaze from L-Elf's frosty glare, but Saki held her ground.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Saki challenged, crossing her arms.

"Several," L-Elf replied coolly. "Putting arguments about morality aside, I cannot imagine anything good could come from our meeting. To say my feelings towards Sashinami Shoko are negative at the moment would be putting it mildly."

Watching L-Elf try to control his emotions was amazing in the sense that someone who didn't know him would never notice it, yet someone who did would never fail to notice it.

If you knew what to look for, L-Elf was quite expressive, Saki mused.

L-Elf was angry about what happened during ARUS' attack and Saki could not really blame him for it. She hadn't even been there and she was still a little angry at Shoko for the whole thing. If she hadn't been passing right over that particular part of the Moon at that precise moment, L-Elf and Haruto would have died there.

Not that it had helped Haruto in the end... but it could have been much worse and that prospect terrified Saki.

"Sashinami Shoko is necessary for the Module's future," L-Elf said, almost forcing the words to come out of his mouth. "She possesses a natural charisma and sense of genuineness that most politicians lack. Thanks to those qualities she gained the leadership of the Module."

Plus a big moon festival, Saki added mentally.

"Those qualities are also why she failed. They allowed her to rise to a position she was not yet ready for. Unchecked, she is dangerous. However, if we can exert more control over her she can become useful," L-Elf said, not showing a scrap of guilt for reducing Shoko to the level of a tool. "For the world Haruto Tokishima wanted this is-"

"Don't!" Saki said, raising her finger. If L-Elf's glare earlier had been freezing, then Saki's could have caused people to combust on the spot. A flash of red crossed her eyes and if it had been anyone else, L-Elf would have dismissed it as a trick of the light. "Don't you dare use Haruto's name as a tool!"

A crack actually appeared on L-Elf's facade at her words. "I am not-"

"You are," Saki shouted. "You did it last meeting as well. Did you think I wouldn't notice? You used his name to sway us to your side."

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

"It must be very convenient for you. You say his name, look human for a moment, and suddenly we are all doing your bidding for Haruto."

Using death and tragedy to advance a personal agenda. It was something Saki was not unfamiliar with. During her idol days, there had been one annoying group she had to compete with. It had been a trio, each one of them worse than the other. When the cameras weren't rolling, they were always at each other's throats. The only reason they hadn't broken up was because none of them had what it took for a solo career.

Then tragedy struck. One of them died in a traffic accident. At least, that was the official story. Those in the business knew it had been an overdose.

Regardless, the two girls who hadn't possessed even an ounce of positive feeling towards their teammate were soon shedding countless tears in front of the cameras. Using that tragedy they had rapidly increased their sales and popularity.

It had been utterly disgusting.

Just like this.

"Is that all Haruto is to you now? Another tool?" Saki asked. "You two were friends."

To that L-Elf had nothing to say. She wouldn't understand, he told himself. She couldn't. There was too much at stake. What he did was necessary. He wasn't ashamed. He wasn't embarrassed. He wasn't guilty at all.

Yet L-Elf found himself averting his gaze.

"I expected better from you," Saki said at last. "I don't know why but I did. Just... just leave."

L-Elf did.

xXx

Once upon a time, when the school had been a school and the students had been students, one would almost certainly have found Kitagawa Iori in the Student Council room. It was just the way things were. Whenever there was Student Council work to be done, the Vice-President would be there, tirelessly toiling away.

The fact that she got to spend more time with Satomi that way had nothing to do with it.

Really.

However, there was no Student Council anymore. No afterschool meetings. No more getting distracted by Satomi's focused gaze as he balanced the budget.

That had all been a lifetime ago.

That was why Ninomiya Takahi did not find Iori in the Student Council room. It had been the first place she had checked just to be on the safe side. She had then gone through Iori's usual hangouts with similar results. It was only after a lot of searching around the campus that she had to resort to actually asking if anyone had seen her.

The answers she had received were not what she had been expecting at all. In fact, she had almost believed it was a joke when she first heard it.

However, Takahi could not deny what she saw with her own eyes.

Kitagawa Iori did not hear her enter the building nor did she notice her steps as she made her way towards her. The girl was too focused on her task. Her hands moved with dexterity and vigor Takahi would have never associated with the girl. Sweat shined on her forehead and her eyes burned with intense concentration.

Takahi raised an eyebrow as shy, innocent Iori actually roared while sending her opening flying away with a vicious uppercut, leaving a trail of blood in the air. Victory sounds came from the speaker and the screen flashed with the words "YOU WIN" prominently displayed.

Iori allowed herself a satisfied smile. She took a deep breath and wiped some sweat from her forehead before she turned around.

Their eyes met.

Takahi arched a delicate eyebrow.

"T-this i-is n-not what it looks like!" Iori said, wildly waving her arms around as her face went from white to red, then settled on an interesting shade of purple.

"Isn't it?" Takahi asked. "I believe we are far past the point where an explanation is necessary."

The once Vice-President of the student council was enjoying herself at an arcade like a common teenager.

Although it was not kind to say it, Module 77 was very much a ghost town. Since the school campus had enough space for all the remaining students and then some, the large majority of the buildings in the Module were completely uninhabited. Movie theaters, bars, and stores were completely without personnel. There was nothing to stop the students from going to these places and taking whatever they wanted; many of them had done exactly that.

The arcade Iori was using was no different. It was an empty building to which no one went to anymore. Somehow, it had become the girl's hangout spot.

Takahi did not want to imagine how that happened.

"It's not like that," Iori cried out, spreading her arms as if her thin body could somehow hide the bright screen that showed all the high scores had been taken by her. "I wasn't...I was just...checking to see if they worked?"

Takahi raised a hand. "Stop. Please. This is just embarrassing."

From Student Council Vice-President to Gaming Addict. How far some people fell.

To Takahi's surprise, Iori did not shrink back from her. Instead, she glared.

"Okay, fine! I was playing," Iori said, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "So what? I am free to do what I want with my personal time."

It wasn't like she had anything else to do. Her past actions put her at odds with the current government and most students did not feel comfortable interacting with her. Besides, it wasn't like she was all that comfortable hanging around the others either.

Too much baggage.

"That you are," Takahi admitted, crossing her arms under her breasts. The motion just made them look even bigger and Iori knew she was doing it just to annoy her. "To each their own, I suppose."

"Why are you even here?" Iori asked, eager to get Takahi out of her hair.

"Think," Takahi said in that annoying high-handed way of hers, as if Iori was a peasant that was tolerated but far from wanted. "What possible reason could I have for seeking you out?"

Iori frowned. For once not because Takahi annoyed her... not just because of it at any rate.

"Oh," she said, crossing her arms and looking away. "That."

By "that" she meant the contents of her last talk with Ninomiya.

If any of the students wanted to rebel again, there was a decent chance they would try to contact her. She needed to be on the lookout for that and contact Takahi if it happened.

In plain terms, she was bait.

Like it or not, she had turned herself into a significant figure for the Module. Not popular. Not loved. Not feared.

Just significant.

"Yes, that," Takahi said. To her credit, she did not look entirely comfortable with the subject at hand either. "Has anyone approached you since our last talk?"

Iori shook her head. "No," she said.

"Have you heard the other students discuss anything of importance?" Takahi asked next.

"Am I your spy too now? Do you expect me to keep track of everything?" Iori snapped at Takahi. However, the blonde did not react. She just kept starting at Iori with an impassive expression on her face.

Iori sighed. "No, I haven't heard anything important, but I don't think I am the most reliable source since..."

Iori waved a hand around.

"Of course," Takahi said. If she had been spending all her time at the arcade, then her contact with the other students had been minimal. "Try to keep a closer eye on things from now on. From here on, things are going to be... troublesome."

Iori gave her a look. "Are you talking about the situation in Module 60?"

Takahi blinked. She had not been expecting that.

"How?"

For a brief moment Iori looked puzzled. "You don't know," she realized, a smile blooming on her face. Takahi did not like that smile at all.

"Know what?"

"Pilots have already been briefed on the mission details," Iori said, content to let Takahi draw her own conclusions.

"You?" Takahi shouted, her eyes wide and one delicate finger pointed to the girl in front of her. "Of all people, you?"

"I took the test and qualified," Iori said, doing her best to imitate Takahi's casual arrogance. Judging from the twitch of the blonde girl's eye, it worked. "Unlike someone I could mention, I actually managed to complete the course on my first try."

Iori's gaze lowered. "I guess it is only to be expected. I didn't have those things blocking my way."

Takahi flushed scarlet.

xXx

The hangar was busy with activity.

L-Elf had given the orders and now all the mechanics were working non-stop to make sure the Kirschbaums were in top condition. It was long, tedious work that was largely useless in practice yet could not be skipped under any circumstances.

The machines were brand new. The probability of something being wrong with them was minuscule. They didn't even have pilots for most of them just yet. However, they could not afford to take any risks because the safety of the Module depended on these machines.

Worst of all, there were not many people in the Module with the expertise necessary for the task. There may only be ten Kirschbaums, but they were giant robots. Performing maintenance on a car was hard enough. Performing maintenance on an eighty-ton metal giant was nothing less than a herculean task.

"Argh, I can't do this anymore!" Toru Miyamachi shouted, gripping his hair between his sweaty fingers. His tools loudly fell to the floor next to him.

Toru was a stocky teenager of above average height. He had messy brown hair which was usually covered by a cap worn sideways. Normally, he had an easy smile on his face, but now he just looked tired.

He was not alone in that. His friend, Seiya Kamisugi, took his words as the signal to collapse next to him.

"Come on, guys. It's not that bad," Yusuke tried to cheer them up, but the quick glares the two sent his way put an end to that. Some people could control the mood of a room with a smile, but Yusuke was not one of those people.

Besides, he wasn't exactly all that happy at the moment.

"Okay, yeah. It sucks," he admitted. In a louder voice, he said, "everyone! We're taking a one hour break!"

Numerous relieved sighs and a few cheers filled the room. There would have been more cheers if everyone wasn't so tired already. Yusuke just sighed and let himself fall to the floor next to the Kirschbaum they had been working on. Meanwhile, Seiya reached into the cooler they had brought with them and took out three soda cans.

"Here," he said, giving one to Yusuke and another to Toru before taking a seat at their side.

"Thanks, buddy," Toru said as he took the can and opened it. Yusuke just nodded in his general direction, too tired to properly thank him.

For a moment, there was silence as the three friends took their first sip.

Seiya was the first to break it.

"It's just not fair," he whined, resting his head on his knees.

"How long did you last?" Toru asked, instantly understanding what his friend was talking about. "I don't think I made it past ten seconds."

"I hurled in the simulator," Seiya replied, his tone wooden. Both of his friends winced.

"Ouch." It was all they could say.

Yusuke hadn't exactly lasted long in that thing, but at least the contents of his stomach had stayed there.

"I heard Juto made it," Yusuke added a moment later.

"Of course, he did," Toru said, waving a hand around. "Have you not seen the guy? He's all muscle."

"Guys like that don't need the added coolness," Seiya grumbled. "Piloting giant robots is supposed to be the domain of people with no experience or qualifications!"

"Anime does make it look easier," Toru admitted. He pressed the soda can against his cheek, enjoying its coldness.

"You just fall into the cockpit and pick it up in a few minutes. That's how it always goes. Name one time it didn't," Seiya complained, shaking his soda can emphatically before taking another sip.

"Mazinger Z," Yusuke replied instantly. "Kouji wrecked the city during his first try."

"Shinji kind of sucked at first," Toru added. "And that was with a thought-controlled robot. There is also the first Macross. Hikaru sucked hard in robot mode."

"You're not supposed to find examples!" Seiya shouted, face red. The high-school student hung his head in defeat. "I wanted to be a cool giant robot pilot."

It was a sentiment that was shared by the other two. The three had witnessed the realities of war in various ways, but certain fantasies were hard to let go of.

The pilots of Module 77 had shined too brightly for people not to aspire to be like them.

"What happened to Haruto," Toru began, "it really did seem like something out of an anime. There were soldiers all around and suddenly, this giant robot shows up and beats them. When the cockpit opened and Haruto walked out, I couldn't believe it."

"He looked really cool back then," Seiya said, a smile tugging at his lips as he thought of happier times. "It was amazing how things changed. I mean, before that he was just Haruto, you know?"

Yusuke nodded. He did know.

Haruto was Shoko's friend. That had been his claim to fame.

He hadn't been a known delinquent like Thunder or cool like Inuzuka-senpai. He had just been Haruto. If one needed to describe him before the invasion then saying he was the guy who hung around Shoko would have been enough. Haruto simply didn't stick out.

Kind of like them.

"It was like he had become the protagonist of a mecha anime," Seiya said, his arms moving excitedly as he talked. "The entire world had its eyes on him. Everyone wanted to be his friend. Every time there was an attack, he'd get on the Valvrave and beat back the Dorssians!"

"He also had all the girls throwing themselves at him, all the pilots did," Toru noted, not without some envy. A blush appeared on his face as he thought of something. "Say, do you think those guys ever got to, you know..."

It'd have been way too sad if they had died without ever getting the chance to.

"Haruto definitely did," Yusuke replied absentmindedly. The matter-of-fact way in which he said it drew amazed looks from both his friends.

"No way!"

"Who?"

"Who else? Ruki," Yusuke replied, shrugging. "I thought it was obvious."

Seiya looked like he was going to burst into tears. "B-but she's an idol! They are supposed to remain pure!"

"No, wait," Toru spoke, shaking his soda can. "He's got a point. Beyond all those pictures of them together on his Wired account, there were also the times when they didn't show up for the cabinet meetings. That was pretty suspicious."

From an outside perspective, it was truly easy to misinterpret the actions of the two Valvrave pilots as those of a couple sneaking around.

"But what about the bro-code?" Seiya asked, his eyes almost brimming with unshed tears.

"Eh, be honest, if a hot idol wanted to date you, what would you do?" Yusuke asked.

"...point."

"I'd have thought Haruto would have ended up with Shoko, though," Toru mused. The tall teen put his now empty soda can on the floor. "They had the whole childhood friends thing going on."

"Guess Shoko didn't act fast enough," Seiya said. "Childhood friends rarely do."

"Fast is definitely the right word for it," Yusuke said, taking a sip from his can. "Remember the election?"

"Yeah."

"What of it?"

"Do you remember seeing either Haruto or Saki there?" Yusuke asked, drawing shocked looks from both his friends.

"No way."

"Shoko got NTRed hard."

Yusuke nodded. "That she did... It'd have been great if a love triangle had been the worst thing to happen."

The words escaped from his mouth before he could stop them, instantly sobering him up. "I mean, we can't help but see being a pilot as cool and all, but Haruto is not here anymore. Akira-chan and Ruki are the only ones left."

The other two reluctantly nodded now with more somber expressions on their faces.

Although their lives may have looked glamorous from the outside, being a pilot had consequences. Life wasn't like Gundam where you could be replaced by your identical twin next season. Every time the pilots had gone out it had been a gamble and not everyone had survived.

"Do you think they were ever scared?" Seiya asked.

"If they were, they never showed it," Toru said, shrugging. "Those bastards were too damn cool. I can't even be jealous of the attention they got because they deserved every bit of it. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."

Yusuke looked at his soda can before raising it. "To the pilots," he said.

"To the pilots," the other two said, mimicking their friend's action.

A moment of easy silence followed.

"Even so..."

"Yeah..."

"I want to be a pilot!"

xXx

Shoko was alone.

Months ago, the notion would have been laughable. Shoko was too much of a people person to ever be alone. If Shoko was not with Haruto, she would be with Marie or one of the many people that made up her long list of friends. Shoko could strike up a conversation with a complete stranger and by the end of it, they would be talking and laughing like old friends.

That had changed.

It was only after spending so much time in Saki's room that she finally felt comfortable enough to go outside. The Module was fixed so she could go to the city above and get some fresh air. She had been looking forward to seeing the school again, but...

Shoko sighed.

The school was the same as always. It had been a big surprise considering everything that had happened there. If it weren't for a few leftover bullet holes, no one would be able to guess what had happened in that building. Satomi and his crew had done a good job.

Yes, the school hadn't changed.

The students had.

The way they looked at her now. The way they traded looks and whispered to each other when they thought she wouldn't notice.

It was heavy.

Once, that type of looks had just rolled off her. She could wear shirts most would balk at without a care. Her cooking looked absolutely hideous yet she was damn proud of it because she knew it was delicious.

Before, she could be strong. She could be Sashinami Shoko with pride.

Now those looks and whispers had become more than she could bear. Each one was an arrow to her heart and her fragile confidence could not take that assault. Trying to get away from it all, she had ended up leaving the academy.

As her footsteps led her through the familiar but empty streets of Module 77, Shoko couldn't help but feel she was running away.

During the early days of their fight against Dorssia, the empty city had given her a sense of adventure. Back then, she had chosen to focus on the positives and had seen the empty city as an opportunity to do all those things she hadn't been allowed to do before.

Now the emptiness held no more adventures for her. There was nothing to marvel at and that suited the current her just fine.

A frown marred Shoko's face as soon as that last thought took form. She saw a can lying on the ground and kicked it as hard as she could. It bounced three times on the ground before coming to a rolling stop.

The action brought Shoko no joy at all.

Maybe... maybe she had changed as well. She had lost too much. She had lost friends. She had lost her father.

She had lost Haruto.

Although it felt cruel to think it, maybe it was the last change that mattered the most to her. It certainly was the one that caused her the most pain.

As she kept walking through the Module, Shoko couldn't help but notice her feet were leading her towards a very familiar location. She was no longer in the city. She was in a place she hadn't visited in quite some time.

The cave.

Seeing it again was bittersweet. It looked the same as the last time she had seen it. At least, that's how it felt for her. The entrance was sealed off as per her father's wishes. They had used explosives to collapse it, but she felt that if she could get in she would find everything just like it had been when they had left.

She reached out with her hand and touched the cave's exterior.

When was the last time she had come here? Not since she had entered high school at the very least.

However, it felt like coming home. Like she had never left. She felt more at peace at the moment than she ever had since returning to the Module.

That's right. She could be at peace here because... because they both made that promise here.

It had all happened years ago.

People needed nature. Green spaces helped them relax. They provided them with temporary relief from their busy lives. It was one of the reasons why plenty of cities had parks.

The plans for the Modules had taken that into consideration.

Modules did not need forests and mountains to function. However, they had been included in their construction. They created the illusion of a natural environment. They also allowed people to practice hobbies like camping and mountain-climbing. They allowed people to be in touch with nature.

Shoko liked nature.

She liked nature as a kid as well. She had liked going to the forest and exploring. Since her father was rarely at home, she was free to do as she wished most of the time. She had been a willful child back then.

That time she had dragged Haruto along. She usually did. With Haruto, she didn't need to worry about what his father would say. Much like her father, his was rarely home. Often times they only had each other for company. It was what had made their friendship so strong.

That day was not supposed to be any different. She had gone to the forest and taken Haruto with her. She had found the cave the other day and had wanted to show it to him. She had even brought flashlights and snacks. She had thought it would be fun to go exploring there.

It hadn't been.

They had gone too far inside the cave and gotten lost. She had been scared, so scared. Nothing more than a little girl lost in the vast darkness. The simple flashlights she had brought with her were nearly useless against the cave's empty darkness. She had broken down crying.

Haruto hadn't.

Haruto had helped her. Haruto had made her tears go away until the adults came to rescue them. Even though he should have been angry with her for putting them in that situation. Even though he should have hated her, Haruto had...

Haruto had promised...

Shoko closed her eyes, trying to fight the tears she knew wanted to get out. Sharp pain throbbed in her chest.

People often made the mistaken assumption that she was the stronger one of the two. Shoko knew better than anyone how false that was. She knew it because Haruto had been strong when she hadn't been.

Ever since then, she had tried to be strong. She had tried to be as strong as Haruto had been back in the cave. She had done her best to change her weak self into someone better. A new and better Shoko. Someone who could help people instead of dragging them into trouble.

That was why when Haruto hadn't remembered the promise... that was why...

Shoko bit her lip and punched one of the large rocks covering the cave's entrance as hard as she could.

Pain erupted in her hand.

When it came to flesh vs rock, it was not even a competition. This time tears did escape from her eyes, but the pain was far from emotional. With any luck, she hadn't damaged her hand beyond a few bruises.

Shoko brought her wounded hand close to her chest and rubbed her tears away with the other one.

Just how much had she really changed since then? She had thought she had done a good job, but now... now she wasn't so sure.

Did she like the Sashinami Shoko she had become?

Would Haruto approve of the person she was now?

Just... just what was she supposed to do?

It was like being stuck in the cave all over again, Shoko thought as she sat on the ground, hugging her knees close to her chest.

Only this time there would be no Haruto to pull her out.

"Sashinami Shoko."

The voice reached her ears and she recognized it instantly. She looked up and blinked just to be sure she wasn't seeing an illusion.

"L-Elf?" The word came out as a question. It felt like a joke. She had looked for him so hard and never found him, yet he chose to show up here of all places?

How did he even know about this place?

However, L-Elf's expression provided no answers. He only had four simple words for her.

"We need to talk."

xXx

Interlude: End

xXx

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Man, it's been some time, hasn't it? 
> 
> As always, don't forget to leave a comment. If you like this story, consider checking out my other fanfics, and if you like those consider checking out my books (address available in my profile).
> 
> Till next time!


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